Division  -D5  2.0(o 

Big      ' 


Section  . 


HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE 

OF   THE 

NEW  TESTAMENT. 

AN  INDUCTIVE  STUDY  IN  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 


The  Facts  Mentioned  in   the  New  Testament  Demonstrated  to  be 

Historical  by  the  Worst  Enemies  op   Christianity   who  Lived 

IN  THE  First  Three  Centuries  op  our  Era,  CONFIRMED  by 

AS  MANY  Christian  Writers  op  Fame,  Contemporaries  who 

Wrote  in  Dipperent  Countries  and  Periods  :  the  whole 

RECONFIRMED  by  many  Remarkable  Evidences 

Recently  Discovered:    Ancient   Documents, 

Monuments,   Arches,   Inscriptions,    Coins, 

Superscriptions,  and 

CHRISTIAN    ART. 


EtooTCS  OTL  CIS  OLTroXoycav  tov  evayyeXt'ou  /cet/xat. 

"I  am  set  for  the  Defense  of  the  Gospel." — To  the  Philippians. 

'For  we  have  not  any  power  against  the  Truth,  but  in  behalf  of  the  Truth." 

— To  the  Corinthians. 

BY 

EEV.  S.  L.  BOWMAN,  A.M.,  S.T.D. 


CINCINNATI:    JENNINGS    AND    PYE. 
NEW    YORK:     EATON     AND     MAINS. 


Copyright,  1903,  by 
Jennings  anb  Pyb. 


T0  m^  nzxu. 


PREFACE. 


This  treatise  is  a  contribution  to  the  Christian  Evidences 
demanded  by  the  times.  It  is  dedicated  to  the  intelligent 
young  men  of  the  period.  The  work  is  designed  to  meet  the 
skeptical  issues  of  the  day  which  deny  the  historical  character 
of  Christianity  during  the  first  three  centuries,  holding  that 
the  claim  is  not  absolutely  based  upon  the  facts  of  Christ's  life 
as  is  narrated  in  the  four  Gospels.  No  other  work  known  to 
the  writer  has  proposed  to  traverse  this  territory  upon  the 
lines  and  in  the  form  here  adopted.  It  embraces  the  period 
between  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  and  the  time  when  Constan- 
tine  the  Great  established  Christianity  throughout  the  Koman 
Empire  as  the  religion  of  the  State  in  A.  D.  325.  After  this 
date  there  is  no  question  made  touching  the  historicity  of 
Christianity. 

Paley's  Evidences  nobly  met  the  requirements  of  his  age ; 
but  new  issues  have  risen  since  which  call  for  a  restatement 
of  the  Christian  argument  in  a  more  comprehensive  form,  for- 
tified by  the  monumental  evidences  of  recent  discovery.  As 
Dr.  Philip  Schaff  judiciously  remarks :  "  Lardner,  Doddridge, 
and  Leland  made  good  use  of  Celsus  against  the  Deists  of 
their  day.  He  may  with  still  greater  effect  he  turned  against 
Strauss  and  Renan.^''  {Person  of  Christy  p.  101,  note.)  Mr. 
George  Rawlinson  also  observes :  '•'■It  is  invportant  to  hear  in 
mynd  the  fact  that  there  is  no  period  in  the  whole  range  of 
a/ncient  history  whereof  we  possess  a  more  full  and  exact  Tcnowl- 
edge  than  we  do  of  the  fvrst  century  of  our  eraP  {Truth  of  the 
S(yripture  Records^  Amer.  ed.  383,  Note  3. 


4  Pkeface. 

The  method  of  procedure  is  to  employ  the  testimonies  of 
the  adversaries  of  Christianity  who  lived  in  the  first  centuries 
of  our  era  indicated,  to  confirm  the  statements  of  the  apostolic 
writers,  and  lyrove  the  historicity  of  the  facts  related  in  the 
sacred  nan^atives.  The  writers  hostile  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion are  of  two  classes, — Jewish  and  heathen.  Of  the  Jews 
the  testimony  adduced  is  that  taken  from  the  works  of  Jo- 
sephus,  the  Talmud,  the  Toledoth  Jeshu  {History  of  Jesus\ 
and  a  few  others,  such  as  the  recent  History  of  the  Jews  by 
Dr.  Heinrich  Graetz,  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Breslau, 
Prussia ;  of  the  heathen,  the  testimony  of  Tacitus,  Pliny,  Sue- 
tonius, Lucian,  Celsus,  Porphyry,  and  the  Emperor  Julian  as 
the  connecting  link  between  the  primitive  and  the  later  Chris- 
tianity acknowledged  to  be  historical.  The  testimony  of  the 
Friends  of  Christianity,  who  were  the  contemporaries  of  the 
Adversaries,  is  that  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  the  Christian 
Apologists,  and  the  first  four  Pauline  Epistles,  which  are  now 
acknowledged,  by  all  living  skeptics  of  character,  to  be  au- 
thentic and  credible.  The  testimony  of  the  Christian  writers 
is  employed  to  confirm  the  testim.ony  of  their  enemies  respect- 
ing the  facts  alleged  in  the  historical  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Then  this  mass  of  testimony  is  reconfi/rmed  by  the 
new  "finds" — the  Documents,  Monuments,  Arches,  Inscrip- 
tions, Coins,  Superscriptions,  and  Christian  Art. 

Respecting  the  value  of  monumental  evidence.  Dr.  Philip 
Schaff  remarks: 

"The  importance  of  these  literary  discoveries  and  investigations 
should  not  blind  us  to  the  almost  equally  important  monumental  dis- 
coveries and  researches  of  Cavalier  de  Rossi,  Garrucci,  and  other  Italian 
scholars  who  have  illuminated  the  subterranean  mysteries  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  and  of  early  Christian  art.  Neander,  Gieseler,  and  Baur,  the 
greatest  Church  historians  of  the  nineteenth  century,  are  as  silent  about 
the  catacombs  as  Mosheim  and  Gibbon  were  in  the  eighteenth.    But 


Preface.  5 

who  could  now  write  a  history  of  the  first  three  centuries  without  re- 
cording the  lessons  of  those  rude  yet  expressive  pictures,  sculptures  and 
epitaphs  from  the  homes  of  confessors  and  martyrs?  Nor  should  we 
overlook  the  gain  which  has  come  to  us  from  the  study  of  monumental 
inscriptions,  as,  for  instance,  in  rectifying  the  date  of  Polycarp's  mar- 
tyrdom, who  is  brought  ten  years  nearer  the  age  of  St.  John."  (Hist,  of 
Christian  Church,  Vol.  II;  Preface,  p.  vii.) 

Where  new  witnesses  are  introduced,  there  will  be  found 
before  each  chapter  an  epitome  of  the  life  and  works  of  those 
testifying.  The  object  of  this  is  to  furnish  the  young  reader 
some  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  attesting  party,  as  a 
proper  preparation  to  appreciate  the  value  of  his  testimony. 
Acknowledgment  is  specially  due  for  the  use  made  of  Dr.  Na- 
thaniel Lardner's  great  work  consisting  of  ten  volumes:  a  the- 
saurus of  learning  and  apologetic  literature.  As  he  has  usually 
furnished  his  citations  in  the  language  in  which  they  were 
originally  written,  in  some  instances  this  author  has  made  his 
own  translations  therefrom;  but  in  all  cases  where  critical 
care  and  consideration  were  regarded  as  specially  due,  the 
rendering  found  place  in  the  text  of  the  page,  that  the  English 
reader  might  experience  no  break  in  the  continuity  of  thought; 
and  the  original  of  the  citation  was  placed  in  the  foot-note 
with  proper  reference,  which  the  scholarly  reader  would  most 
desire  to  see. 

An  Appendix  may  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  volume  con- 
taining valuable  matter  which  could  not  well  be  placed  in  the 
body  of  the  work.  Attention  is  specially  directed  to  Jose- 
phus's  Testimony  of  Christ  for  the  reason  that  all  the  principal 
arguments  ^r<?  and  con  are  there  adduced  respecting  the  gen- 
uineness of  this  famous  paragraph.  The  reader  is  to  determine 
for  himself  whether  the  testimony  is  of  evidential  value  in  the 
course  of  this  discussion.  Pliny's  Official  Letter  to  the  Em- 
peror Trajan  is  there  given  in  full.     The  Logia  of  our  Lord  in 


6  Preface. 

Greek  and  its  translation;  The  DidacM,  or  Teaching  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles^  and  the  celebrated  Muratorian  Canon  are 
there  noted  and  described.  In  an  Excursus  is  given  the  Jews' 
authoritative  Edict  for  expurgating  all  references  to  Jesus 
Christ,  with  particular  reference  to  opprobrious  language  ap- 
plied to  him  in  their  Talmud.  Tabular  Exhibits  are  super- 
added for  reference. 

That  this  volume  may  prove  to  be  a  blessing  of  helpfulness 
to  the  faith  of  the  rising  young  men  of  the  country,  who  may 
have  perplexities  of  doubt  respecting  the  historicity  of  the 
New  Testament  Scriptures,  and  consequently  of  the  primitive 
Christianity,  is  the  sincere  and  devout  wish  of  the 

AUTHOR. 

New  York,  1903. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

Introduction,            ..--__  yjj 

I.  General  Anticipations  of  the  Coming  Messiah,     -           -  19 

II.  The  Nativity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,             -           -  41 

III.  Circumstances  Concurrent  with  His  Nativity,       -           -  63 

IV.  Unique  Place  of  John  the  Baptist  in  History,             -  91 
V.  The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity,             -  113 

VI.  The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ,      -  139 

VII.  Characteristics  and  Value  op  Christ's  Miracles,             -  161 

VIII.  Modern  Objections  to  the  Miracles  of  Christ,             -  181 

IX.  The  Passion,  the  Death,  and  the  Burial  of  Jesus,             -  211 

X.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  Dead,      -  233 

XI.  The  Ascension  of  the  Lord  Jesus  into  Heaven,      -           -  295 

XII.  The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  their  Work,            -  313 

XIII.  The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians,      -            -  343 

XIV.  Unique  History  op  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years,             -  385 
XV.  The  Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews,  and  the  New  Testament,  413 

XVI.  The  House  op  the  Herods,  and  the  New  Testament,  -  459 

XVII.  Destructionopthe  Jewish  Nation,  AND  THE  New  Testament,  501 

XVIII.  Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World,   -  555 

XIX.  Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical,           -  585 

XX.  Manuscripts,  Versions,  and  Canon  op  the  New  Testament,  633 

APPENDIX. 

Excursus 

A.  Testimony  op  Josephus  Respecting  Jesus  Christ,     -           -  665 

B.  Pliny's  State  Paper  Addressed  to  Emperor  Trajan,     -  671 

C.  The  Logia  op  our  Lord,  or,  "  The  Sayings  of  Jesus,"         -  673 

D.  Didache,  or,  "  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  674 

E.  "The  Muratorian  Canon:"  Description  and  Value,            -  675 

F.  The  Talmud  Expurgated  of  its  References  to  Jesus,  676 

G.  Extracts  prom  the  Jewish  Work,  "  The  Toledoth  Jeshu,"  678 

Exhibit 

A.  Chronology  of  the  Books  op  the  New  Testament,         -  687 

B.  High  Priests  and  Procurators  of  Palestine,            -           -  689 

C.  Comparative  Table  op  the  Critics  Respecting  Testimonies,  690 

D.  Table  op  Contemporary  Witnesses  and  Documents,             -  691 

E.  Chronological  Table  op  all  Witnesses  Cited  in  this  Work,  693 
Index,          -..__.___  695 


O  that  mine  enemy  would  write  a  book.  ...  I  would  bind  it  to  me 
as  a  crown. — Job. 

For  their  rock  is  not  as  our  Rock,  even  our  enemies  themselves  being 
judges. — Moses. 

Fas  est  ab  hoste  doceri :  "  It  is  right  to  be  taught  by  an  enemy." — Ro- 
man Motto. 

"Erot/iot  5^  del  irpb^  dTroKoylav  iravrl  r<J>  alTovvri  y/xaj-  X67o»'  TrepJ  tt}^  iv  v/uv  iXirldog'. 

But  ready  always  for  every  one  asking  you  a  reason  in  respect  to  a  de- 
fense concerning  the  hope  in  you. — Peter. 

For  what  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  unrighteousness  ?  And 
what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  And  what  concord 
hath  Christ  with  Belial?  Or  what  part  hath  he  that  belie veth 
with  an  infidel  ?— Paul. 

8 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  CONSPECTUS. 

§  1.  Tlie  Proposition.  A  Scheme  of  Evidence  is  to  be 
introduced  embracing  hundreds  of  circumstances  recorded  in 
the  historical  New  Testament  related  to  the  origin,  antiquity, 
and  authenticity  of  those  Scriptures.  Among  others,  will  be 
embraced  those  capital  facts  and  truths  upon  which  Chris- 
tianity was  founded,  and  upon  which  it  has  ever  securely  re- 
posed. The  argument  based  upon  these  occurrences  will  be 
conducted  informally  upon  the  Inductive  rather  than  the  De- 
ductive principle,  proceeding  from  the  facts  rather  than  from 
propositions  to  the  conclusions. 

§  2.  Plan  of  the  Woi^k.  The  arrangement  following  will 
sufficiently  indicate  the  character  and  scope  of  the  investiga- 
tion proposed  in  this  treatise : 

I.  The  Gospel  and  the  Christ  of  History. 
II.  The  Gospel  and  the  Work  of  Christ. 
III.  The  Gospel  and  the  Public  of  Palestine. 
lY.  The  Gospel  and  the  Roman  Rulers. 
Y.  The  Gospel  and  the  Jewish  Rulers. 
YI.  The  Gospel  and  the  Jewish  Nation. 
YII.  The  Gospel  and  the  Gentile  World. 
§  3.    Witness  of  Enemies.     Those  occurrences  referred  to  as 
basal  to  the  Christian  religion  are  to  be  substantiated  upon 
the  testimony  of  twenty  ancient  Ad/oersaries  of  Christianity 
who  were  Roman,  Greek,  and  Jewish  writers  of  antiquity  and 
eminence.     They  were  the  contemporaries  of  the  apostles  and 
their  successors,  all  of  whom  were  very  unfriendly,  and  most 
of  whom  were  the  worst  enemies  that  Christianity  ever  had. 
Their  testimony  is  preferred  because  of  their  known  hostility 


10  Introduction. 


to  the  Christian  cause,  which  gives  an  added  value  to  their 
"witness.  Of  these  twenty  adversaries,  nineteen  lived  within 
the  first  three  centuries  after  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  ten  of 
whom  were  the  contemporaries  of  the  apostles  and  of  the 
events  recorded  in  the  several  Gospels;  five  or  six  were  the 
contemporaries  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  the  pupils  and  im- 
mediate successors  of  the  apostles ;  and  the  remaining  three 
were  the  contemporaries  of  the  Christian  Apologists  living  at 
a  remove  of  one  or  two  generations  later.  The  twentieth  wit- 
ness reigned  on  the  imperial  throne  of  Rome,  and  wrote  not 
long  after  Constantine  the  Great  had  established  Christianity 
as  the  religion  of  the  State  throughout  the  Roman  Empire. 
His  testimony  may  be  regarded  as  furnishing  a  connecting 
link  in  the  history  of  the  sub- Apostolic  Christianity,  and  that 
which  has  existed  ever  since.  After  the  adoption  of  the 
Christian  religion  in  the  Roman  world,  there  is  no  question 
entertained  touching  its  historicity. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  these  twenty  adversaries 
who  attest  the  truth  of  the  sacred  record,  do  not  all  testify  to 
each  one  of  the  hundreds  of  facts  to  be  adduced.  For  one 
may  make  reference  to  one  fact,  and  another  may  mention 
several  facts ;  while  a  third  may  confirm  the  first  two  testi- 
monies, and  perhaps  give  additional  details.  But  the  several 
testimonies  are  to  be  taken  together  to  prove,  beyond  a  ra- 
tional doubt,  the  historical  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the 
record  claimed;  furnishing  a  broad  basis  for  the  induction 
that  the  entire  content  of  the  New  Testament  respecting  the 
founding  and  diffusion  of  the  Christian  religion  is  both  ancient 
and  true. 

Now,  the  negative  contention  of  ancient  infidels  really 
makes  for  the  Christian  cause.  Even  their  denial  at  the  times 
they  severally  lived  is  a  tacit  admission  that  there  had  pre- 
viously existed  an  account  regarded  by  others  as  historical  re- 
lated to  cardinal  Christian  facts.  For  why  should  any  man 
deny  that  which  no  one  had  ever  afiirmed  ?     Or  why  should 


Introduction.  1 1 


books  be  written  to  refute  what  nobody  had  asserted?  Or 
why  should  men  have  been  persecuted  and  martyred  for  their 
faith,  if  there  existed  absolutely  no  ground  for  their  believing? 
If  the  religion  of  the  Christians  was  founded  on  nothing  more 
substantial  than  an  innocent  fancy,  what  reason  is  to  be  as- 
signed that  an  opposition  arose  so  fierce  that  it  put  men  to 
death?  If  we  run  backward  through  the  earlier  centuries  of 
our  era,  "we  shall  find  in  each  generation  that  there  existed  an 
account  of  the  occurrence  of  facts  which  were  the  ground  of 
the  faith  that  then  existed,  an  account  which  antedated  the 
opposition  and  its  generation,  until  we  reach  the  Founder  of 
Christianity  himself,  by  whom,  and  in  respect  to  whom,  came 
those  occurrences  which  have  inspired  the  world. 

Furthermore,  it  is  not  the  function  of  historical  evidence 
to  compel  belief.  It  is  not  required  that  any  question  shall  be 
placed  beyond  the  ability  of  an  unreasonable  man  to  doubt; 
for  whoever  is  determined  to  disbelieve  can  do  so,  whatever 
just  grounds  exist  for  conviction.  But  the  mental  attitude  of 
such  a  disputant  is  that  of  self-stultification.  It  satisfies  all 
legitimate  demands  in  reasoning  that  evidence  of  such  char- 
acter be  adduced  as  commands  that  high  degree  of  probability 
which  renders  a  belief  in  the  contrary  conclusion  irrational. 
In  short,  as  reasoning  men  we  have  no  right  to  believe  with- 
out reason,  and  we  have  no  right  to  disbelieve  when  we  have 
the  reason.  Mere  prejudice  is  not  reasoning  or  reasonable. 
"He  that  judgeth  before  he  heareth  is  not  wise."  Mere 
opinion  is  not  evidence,  and  can  not  be  substituted  for  evi- 
dence. A  denial  based  upon  ignorance  of  facts  at  issue  can 
never  be  taken  as  disproof  of  the  facts  affirmed  to  be  unhistor- 
ical.  Rather  all  mere  assertions  and  assumptions  leave  ab- 
solutely untouched  the  historicity  of  questions  under  con- 
sideration. 

§  4.  Witness  of  Friends.  The  testimony  of  the  friends  of 
Christianity  is  reserved  to  confirm  the  testimony  of  its  enemies. 
The    two   classes  were   contemporaries.     This   corroborative 


1 2  Introduction. 


testimony  will  be  drawn  from  three  sources  of  the  Christian 
writers,  viz.: 

a)  TTie  Apostolic  Fathers^  who  were  the  personal  Disciples 
of  the  Apostles; 

/?)  The  Christian  Apologists,  or  Defenders  of  the  Faith, 
who  wrote  later ;  and 

y)  The  first  four  Pauline  Epistles,  now  universally  con- 
ceded to  be  authentic  and  credible. 

§5.  Witness  of  Antiquities.  This  kind  of  testimony  is 
that  furnished  by  ancient  Documents  recently  discovered,  by 
Public  MonuTnents,  Arches,  Coins,  Inscriptions,  Superscrip- 
tions, and  hy  Christian  Art.  Archaeological  testimony  applies 
not  to  all  Christian  facts,  but  to  many  and  sufficient.  Wher- 
ever applicable,  this  sort  of  testimony  will  be  adduced  for  the 
purpose  of  recorroboration  of  the  foregoing  testimonies.  Its  evi- 
dential value  in  history  is  very  great  and  decisive,  since  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  that  such  public  affairs  could  be  pub- 
licly imposed  upon  a  given  community  and  be  groundless,  or 
be  done  by  fraud. 

§  6.  Witnesses  Classified.  Both  adverse  and  friendly  wit- 
nesses, as  giving  weight  to  their  testimony,  may  here  be 
classed  according  to  their  RanTc  and  Profession  among  men. 

ADVERSARIES  OP  CHRISTIANITY.     ' 

Physicians.     One:  Galen. 

Classic  Writers.     Three :  Martial,  Juvenal,  and  Yergil. 

Philosophers.     Five:  Seneca,   Epictetus,   Lucian,  Celsus,  and 

Porphyry. 
Historians.     Five:  Strabo,  Josephus,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and 

Dion  Cassius. 
Roman  Proconsuls.     Two:  Pliny  the  Younger,  and  Hierocles. 
RomoM  Emperors.     Four:    Trajan,    Hadrian,    Aurelius,    and 

Julian. 
Jewish  Authors.     Many :  (1)  of  the  Talmud  j  (2)  of  the  Tole- 

doth  Jeshu. 


Introduction.  13 


ADVOCATES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ.     One :  Paul. 

Apostolic  Fathers.  Four :  Barnabas,  Clement,  Ignatius,  and 
Polycarp. 

Other  Patristic  Witnesses.  Two :  Irenaeus  a  Bishop,  and.  Clem- 
ent a  Teacher,  of  Alexandria. 

Christian  Apologists.  Five:  Quadratus,  Melito,  Tertullian, 
Apollonius,  and  Lactantius. 

Christian  Philosophers.  Four:  Aristides,  Justin  Martyr,  Ap- 
ollonius, and  Origen. 

Christian  Historians.  Three :  Hegesippus,  Eusebius,  and  Lac- 
tantius. 

Roman  Emperors.     One :  Constantine  the  Great. 

§  7.  Historical  Evidence.  The  characteristics  and  method 
of  procedure,  in  case  of  historical  evidence,  differ  very  ma- 
terially from  those  of  an  ordinary  court  of  trial.  At  the  bar 
of  Criticistn  there  are  no  living  issues  on  matters  of  past 
centuries,  no  living  parties  in  contention,  and  no  living  wit- 
nesses to  command  in  proof.  There  is  no  open  court  to  in- 
vestigate the  facts  in  the  case,  and  no  direct  and  cross-exam- 
ination of  those  testifying  to  test  the  validity  of  given  claims. 
However,  when  the  evidence  sought  is  documentary  as  in  case 
of  the  Scriptures,  critical  consideration  is  necessitated  respect- 
ing the  authorship,  the  antiquity,  the  authenticity  and  credi- 
bility of  the  case.  The  genuineness  or  the  spuriousness  of  the 
text,  the  usage  of  specific  words  at  the  date  claimed  as  a  time- 
test,  the  material  on  which  the  writing  appears,  and  the  mode 
of  the  writing  itself  then  in  vogue,  are  searchingly  examined 
as  against  forgery  and  fraud,  the  custody  of  the  writing  as 
against  interpolations,  and  the  accordancy  of  the  contents 
with  current  events  known  from  contemporaneous  history. 

Other  sources  of  information  are  also  open  to  careful  and 
critical  consideration,  such  as  the  testimony  of  contemporaries 
of  the  writer  of  the  document,  official  correspondence  of  offi- 


14  Introduction, 


cers  and  rulers,  official  governmental  records,  the  existence  of 
public  monuments  commemorative  of  special  occasions  in- 
volved, historical  inscriptions  found  in  public  places,  coins 
bearing  images  and  superscriptions,  works  of  art  illustrative  of 
facts  and  customs  then  existent ;  in  short,  appeal  may  be  made 
to  any  archaeological  proofs  discovered  relating  to  the  case  in 
hand.  Finally  the  fairness  and  credibility  of  the  historian 
himself  in  his  interpretation  of  the  facts  involved  and  the  re- 
liability of  the  data  upon  which  he  has  depended,  are  matters 
for  consideration.  On  such  evidence  and  by  such  methods 
must  historical  investigation  proceed.  Of  course,  no  historian 
is  required  to  have  been  himself  an  eye-witness  of  the  occur- 
rences which  he  is  properly  called  upon  to  interpret  and  re- 
cord. It  certainly  is  not  his  function  necessarily  to  write  as  a 
witness.  He  writes  legitimately  and  credibly  when  he  esti- 
mates the  evidential  value  of  the  facts  which  happened  centu- 
ries before  he  was  born.  By  no  means  does  it  render  nuga- 
tory his  statements  of  history  that  others  than  the  historian 
were  the  original  witnesses  of  the  facts  which  it  is  his  part  to 
place  upon  the  historic  page. 

§  8.  Value  of  Added  Witnesses.  Bishop  Butler  in  his  cele- 
brated Analogy  remarks:  '"'' Probable  proofs,  by  behig  added, 
not  only  increase  the  evidence,  but  multiply  it.^^  Mr.  George 
Rawlinson,  in  his  Bamjpton  Lectures  (1859),  says:  "  When  two 
independent  writers  witness  to  the  same  event,  the  probability  of 
that  event  is  increased  ^  not  in  arithmetical,  but  in  geometrical 
ratio',  not  by  mere  addition,  but  by  multiplication  ^ ''' 

That  is,  the  ratio  of  the  credibility  to  the  discredibility  is 
as  100  to  1.  Let  it  be  assumed  as  10  to  1  that  a  given  event 
occurred  upon  the  testimony  of  one  witness,  and  the  second 
witness,  of  equal  credibility,  testifies  to  the  same  fact.  Then 
the  evidence  furnished  is  not  20  to  1  upon  the  testimony  of 
two  witnesses,  but  120  to  1.  And  if  three  witnesses  of  equal 
credibility  be  taken,  the  credibility  will  be  to  the  discredibility 

*See  Wontworth's  College  Algebra,  page  268. 


Intkoduction.  1 5 


as  1,330  to  1,  in  the  final  chances.  Accordingly,  it  is  of  parar 
mount  importance  that  this  principle  be  kept  carefully  in 
sight  in  the  discussion  which  is  to  follow,  that  the  true  value 
of  the  evidence  adduced  may  be  duly  appreciated  in  respect  to 
the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  New  Testament  as  pro- 
posed in  this  treatise. 

§  9.  Criteria  of  Testimony.  In  determining  the  eligibility 
of  witnesses  and  the  validity  of  their  testimony  in  historical 
investigation,  a  just  criterion  is  had  in  order  to  discriminate 
between  the  true  and  the  false,  or  the  questionable,  A  few 
authorities  may  be  cited  on  judicial  procedures,  as  well  as  on 
the  credibility  of  historical  treatises,  touching  the  admissibility 
of  different  testimonies  when  they  are  variant,  the  proper  dis- 
position of  conflicting  evidence,  reports  derived  from  original 
witnesses,  and  the  proper  custody  of  documents  which  have 
come  down  to  us  from  ancient  times.  These  may  be  reduced 
to  four  in  number : 

a)  Canon  of  Divergent  Testimonies. 

1.  Statements  of  substantial  truth,  with  circumstantial  variety  in 
detail  and  expression. 

2.  Testimony  of  the  original  witnesses,  when  it  is  confirmed  by  the 
testimony  of  enemies. 

3.  The  testimony  given  when  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the  wit- 
nesses testifying. 

4.  The  original  witnesses  testifying  possessing  stainless  characters. 

P)  Conflicting  Testimonies  Reconciled.  Thomas  Starkie 
says: 

"In  case  of  a  seeming  conflict  in  the  evidence,  it  is  legitimate  to 
reconcile  the  differences  by  the  facts  involved  ;  but  if  the  data  for  com- 
posing the  discrepancies  supposed  can  not  be  found  in  the  evidence 
itself,  a  rational  hypotliesis  to  explain  the  diflBculty  is  admissible." 
{Law  of  Evidence,  8th  Amer.  edition.) 

y)  Reports  of  Original  Witnesses.  Sir  George  Cornwall 
Lewis  says : 

"Accounts  .  .  .  derived  directly  or  indirectly  from  original  wit- 
nesses .  .  .  may  be  considered  as  presumptively  entitled  to  credit." 
(Credibility  of  Early  Roman  History,  1856.) 


16  Introduction. 


8)  Custody  of  Ancient  Documents.     Simon  Greenleaf  says: 

"Documents  found  in  a  place  in  which,  and  under  the  care  of  per- 
sons with  whom  such  papers  might  naturally  and  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  be  found,  or  in  possession  of  persons  having  an  interest  in 
them,  are  precisely  in  the  custody  which  gives  authenticity  to  docu- 
ments found  in  it." 

After  his  citation  of  cases,  he  adds  this  note : 

"  The  rule  stated  in  the  text  is  one  of  the  grounds  on  which  we  in- 
sist on  the  genuineness  of  the  books  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  They  are 
found  in  the  proper  custody  or  place  where  they  have  been  kept  from 
time  immemorial.  They  have  been  constantly  referred  to  as  the  founda- 
tion of  the  faith  by  all  the  sects  whose  existence  God  in  his  wisdom  has 
seen  fit  to  permit;  whose  zealous  vigilance  would  readily  detect  any 
attempt  to  falsify  the  text,  and  whose  divergence  of  creeds  would  render 
any  mutual  combination  morally  impossible.  The  burden  of  px-oof  is 
therefore  on  the  objector,  to  impeach  the  genuineness  of  the  books,  not 
upon  the  Christian  to  establish  it."  {Law  of  Evidence,  edition  1853, 
k  142.) 

THE  PROSPECTUS. 

Attention  is  now  directed  briefly  to  the  territory  to  be 
raversed  in  this  treatise.  The  political  condition  of  the 
country  occupied  by  the  Jews,  wherein  all  the  events  related 
in  the  Gospels  are  said  to  have  occurred,  will  naturally  be 
considered;  the  times  and  rulers  of  the  land,  the  language 
and  customs  of  the  people ;  their  conditions  under  the  imperial 
government,  and  the  common  anticipations  of  the  Coming 
One  who  was  known  as  the  predicted  Ruler  of  the  world. 
But  the  main  facts  narrated  in  the  historical  part  of  the  New 
Testament,  such  as  the  Nativity  of  Christ,  His  Ministry  and 
Miracles,  His  Life  and  Death,  His  Resurrection  and  Ascen- 
sion, together  with  hundreds  of  minute  circumstances  of  in- 
cidental mention  therein,  will  pass  duly  under  review  in 
critical  inquiry.  For  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  investigation  to 
demonstrate  in  a  judicial  spirit,  the  truth  of  the  contents  of 
these  Scriptures  whose  teachings  are  held  to  be  based  abso- 
lutely upon  the  facts  mentioned. 

If  it  shall  be  found  that  these  Scriptural  statements  are 


Introduction.  1 7 


confirmed  by  those  who  were  absolutely  hostile  to  Chris- 
tianity, by  those  who  sought  to  destroy  the  faith  and  even  to 
destroy  the  Sacred  Books  themselves — the  contemporaries  of 
the  Christian  writers  adduced — how  can  the  book  itself  be 
false?  What  better  proof  can  be  given  or  demanded  on  any 
question  whatever  of  the  historical  past?  For  as  Dr.  Philip 
Schaff,  the  great  historian  of  the  Christian  Church,  justly  re- 
marks :  "  There  is  no  historical  work  of  ancient  times  which 
carries  on  its  face  such  a  seal  of  truthfulness  as  these  [fou/r'\ 
Gospels.''^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANTICIPATIONS  OF  MESSIAH. 

I.  Literature  :  Vergil,  Jewish  Talmud,  Chaldaic  Targums. 
II.  The  Golden  Age  and  Expectations  Entertained. 

III.  Scriptural  Revelations  Respecting  Messiah. 

IV.  The  Jewish  Talmud  and  the  Incarnate  Messiah. 
V.  The  Chaldaic  Targums  and  the  Expected  Messiah. 

VI.  Anticipations  Entertained  by  Other  Nations. 
VII.  Testimony  op  Adversaries  Misplacing  the  Advent.     Vergil — 
Josephus — Suetonius — Tacitus — Celsus. 
VIII.  Critical  Considerations  and  Inductions: 
a)   The  Fact  Predicted. 
/3)  The  Person  Predicted. 
7)   The  Time  Predicted. 
19 


HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT. 


Chapter  I. 
ANTICIPATIONS  OF  THE  MESSIAH. 

§  10.    Sources:  Biographical  Epitome  of  Witness  and  Literature. 

1.  Vergil  was  a  Latin  poet  of  fame,  born  B.  C.  70,  and  died  B.  C.  19.    In 

early  life  he  resided  in  Rome  and  Naples,  Italy.  He  was  of  deli- 
cate constitution,  both  in  body  and  mind,  and  was  a  man  of  very 
gentle  character.  Carefully  educated,  he  developed  a  genius  for 
writing  poetry,  accordant  with  the  classic  style  and  Roman  stand- 
ard. Among  the  most  famous  of  his  literary  productions  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  are  two  works  designated  Eclogse,  consist- 
ing of  ten  bucolics,  written  about  B.  C.  41-39.  In  Ecloge  iv,  he 
makes  distinct  reference  to  the  return  of  "  the  Golden  Age  "  as  the 
common  hope  of  the  nations  in  his  time,  expressed  in  the  antici- 
pated personal  incarnation  of  "^  Holy  Progeny  who  descends  from 
heaven"  to  men. 

2.  The  Talmud,  in  Jewish  literature,  a  Code  of  traditions  held  in  nearly 

the  same  valuation  and  veneration  as  their  Hebi'ew  Scriptures. 
The  entire  work  embraces  twelve  large  folio  volumes.  It  has  two 
principal  parts :  the  Mishna,  or  the  text,  and  the  Gemara,  or  com- 
mentary of  explanations. 

a)  The  Mishna,  meaning  "  repetition  "  of  the  Law,  is  a  work 
said  to  have  been  begun  by  Ezra  and  his  successors  upon  their 
return  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem.  When  they  disappeared  from 
the  scene,  the  Sanhedi-in  assumed  tribunal  functions.  After  some 
centuries  had  passed,  an  immense  mass  of  traditionary  matter  had 
accumulated,  embracing  many  contradictory  opinions  and  decis- 
ions ;  whereupon  academies  arose  at  Jerusalem,  which  became 
famous  for  digesting  and  propagating  this  stock  of  traditions. 
Hillel  the  elder,  a  Babylonian  by  birth,  was  installed  at  Jeru- 
salem as  Patriarch  of  Palestine,  B.  C.  32.  He  arranged  the  Mishna 
into  six  chief  divisions,  called  Sedarim,  meaning  orders,  viz.:  (1) 
Seraim,  "seeds"  or  "field  products;"  (2)  Moed,  "festivals;" 
(3)  Nashim,  "laws  of  women;"    (4)  Nesikim,  "legal  provisions;'* 

21 


22  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

(5)  Kodeshim,  "sacred  things;"  (6)  Toharoth,  "distinguishing 
between  the  clean  and  unclean."  Each  division  was  subdivided 
into  Mesachtoth,  or  tracts,  sixty-three  in  number. 

The  Jews  of  the  true  faith  study  the  Mishna  with  the  most 
venerating  care.  It  is  claimed  that  its  traditions  and  expositions 
were  derived  orally  from  Moses  and  were  reduced  in  final  form  by 
the  celebrated  Rabbi  Jehudah,  or  Judah  "  the  holy,"  who  received 
the  code  from  the  earlier  Rabbis,  and  they  from  Simon  the  Just, 
the  last  survivor  of  Ezra's  Great  Synagogue  ;  that  the  Synagogue 
received  the  same  from  the  Seventy  Elders  appointed  by  Moses, 
who  received  it  from  Joshua,  who  received  it  from  Moses,  who 
received  it  from  God!     It  was  written  about  B.  C.  400-A.  D.  200. 

§)  The  Gemdra,  "complement"  in  the  sense  of  the  authorita- 
tive interpretation  of  the  Law.  That  is,  the  Pentateuch  was  the 
authoritative  written  Law,  and  the  Gemdra  its  commentary,  furnishing 
a  code  of  "completion"  or  "perfection"  such  as  to  render  all 
further  additions  inadmissible  !  As  soon  as  the  Mishna  was  reduced 
to  writing  and  published,  their  chief  Rabbis  wrote  commentaries 
upon  the  work.  It  therefore  exhibits  those  traditions  of  the  Phar- 
isees which  Jesus  denounced  so  severely  as  unauthorized.  (Matt^ 
XV,  1-9.) 

There  were  two  great  centers  of  Rabbis  engaged  in  writing  the 
Gemara,  and  two  works  produced.  The  older  one  was  called  the 
Jerusalem  or  the  Palestinian  Gemara,  because  composed  by  the 
Rabbis  of  that  country,  whose  center  was  the  city  of  Tiberias  in 
the  later  centuries.  It  was  in  one  large  folio,  and  published 
towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century.  The  other,  called  the 
Babylonian  Gemara  was  composed  by  the  Rabbis  of  the  further 
East  under  the  supervision  of  the  Patriarch  of  Babylon,  and  was 
completed  about  a  century  later.  It  contains  thirty-six  ti*actates. 
Of  the  two  works,  the  Babylonian  is  regarded  as  much  the  better, 
especially  as  exhibiting  the  manners  and  customs  in  the  times  of 
the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament.  This  work  contains  2,947 
folio  pages.     (See  Excursus  F,  in  Appendix.) 

3.  The  Chaldaic  Targums.  Of  these  there  are  several.  They  are  trans- 
lations or  paraphrases  of  most  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  omitting 
only  the  books  Nehemiah,  Ezra,  and  Daniel.  They  were  written 
in  the  later  Aramaic  or  Chaldee  language  when  the  Hebrew  began 
to  fall  into  decay.  Critical  opinion  dates  those  which  are  regarded 
as  most  ancient  and  most  valuable  in  the  first  Christian  century, 
and  certainly  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple 
under  Titus  A.  D.  70.  The  Targums  were  long  preserved  by  oral 
transmission  after  the  return  from  the  captivity  of  Babylon.  There 
are  two  held  in  high  appreciation,  called  Onkelos,  which  is  based 
on  the  Pentateuch,  and  another  called  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  which 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  23 

is  based  upon  the  Hebrew  prophets.  They  serve  to  illustrate  the 
contemporary  view  and  the  prior  teachings  respecting  the  expected 
Messiah  of  the  Jews,  especially  those  views  entertained  at  the 
time  of  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

§11.   Messianic  Expectations. 

The  Fall  in  Paradise  reduces  to  a  practical  form  the  noble  legend  of  the 
Golden  Age,  cherished  especially  in  prehistoric  Greece. — Glad- 
stone. 

The  expectation  of  a  Golden  Age  that  should  return  to  earth  was  com- 
mon in  all  the  heathen  nations. — Dr.  Ezra  Abbot. 

I  would  with  such  perfection  govern,  to  excel  the  Golden  Age. — Shake- 
speare. 

I  will  give  Thee  for  a  Covenant  of  the  people,  for  a  Light  of  the  Gentiles. 
— Isaiah. 

The  Desire  of  Nations  shall  come ;  and  I  will  fill  this  house  with  glory, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts. — Haggai. 

And  we  have  the  Word  of  Prophecy  made  more  sure,  whereunto  ye  do 
well  to  take  heed,  as  unto  a  lamp  shining  in  a  dark  place  until  the 
day  dawn,  and  the  Day-star  arise  in  your  hearts. — Peter. 

ARGUMENT. 
Ancient  writings  were  numerous  in  the  literature  of  different  languages, 
anticipating  the  advent  of  One  who  was  to  be  born  in  Palestine, 
and  become  the  Ruler  of  the  world.  This  expectation,  common 
in  all  the  best  civilizations,  looked  for  his  descent  from  heaven  in 
the  Golden  Age  of  mankind.  At  first  it  was  the  period  for  the 
realization  which  was  so  frequently  voiced  by  pagan  poet  and  his- 
torian, but  gi-adually  the  conviction  developed  that  an  Unknown 
Person,  in  whom  would  center  all  interests,  would  appear  in  that 
"  great  Age  to  come." 

The  literature  of  this  apprehension,  however,  was  due  to  the 
authoritative  prediction  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  who,  again,  re- 
ferred the  origin  of  the  notion  to  a  revelation  from  God.  The 
people  idealized  the  hope  for  a  secular  monarchy.  If  it  shall  be 
found  that  this  was  a  misplacement  of  the  predictions  given,  the 
inquiry  will  be  legitimated  whether  all  the  lines  of  prophecy,  and 
the  lines  of  history  alike,  do  not  center  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  coming  when  he  did,  and  establishing  a  Spiritual 
Kingdom,  has,  in  the  highest  sense,  introduced  the  Golden  Age  of 
Mankind,  and  that  Jesus  alone  in  his  imperishable  Character  and  In- 
fluence, is  entitled  to  be  knotvn  as*  the  Man  op  History. 

1.  The  Golden  Age  as  Preparation  for  Messiah's  Advent. 

2.  Scripture  and  Talmudic  Teachings  of  His  Incarnation. 

3.  Testimonies  of  Adversaries  who  misinterpret  the  Facts. 

4.  Critical  Considerations,  and  the  Inductions  Warranted. 


24  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

messianic  expectations. 

The  foremost  civilizations  of  antiquity  lived  in  the  expec- 
tation of  the  return  of  the  Golden  Age.  Classic  writers*  never 
§12.  Golden  Wearied  of  mentioning  their  belief  in  the  recur- 
Age.  rence  of  that  period  of  primeval  happiness  and  in- 
nocence from  which  they  were  conscious  that  the  race  had  once 
departed.  The  pagans  referred  this  return  to  the  reign  of 
Saturn.  In  classic  literature,  the  Golden  Age  began  with  the 
time  of  Livius  Andronicus/  and  extended  to  the  death  of  the 
Emperor  Augustus.^  For  a  long  period,  however,  this  ideal  re- 
mained as  a  beautiful  dream,  having  no  reference  to  a  Person, 
or  to  Koyalty,  or  to  Divinity,  or  to  an  Incarnation.  At  length, 
other  influences  were  at  work  molding  the  nations  to  a  better 
apprehension. 

In  making  his  march  of  conquests^  through  Asiatic  coun- 
tries, Alexander  the  Great  brought  with  him  the  Greek  letters 
and  language  which  became  the  medium  of  international  inter- 
course and  commerce.  It  is  related  that  Ptolemy  Philadelphus, 
of  Egypt,  made  request*  of  the  Jews  of  Palestine  to  have 
seventy  Eabbis  sent  down  to  Alexandria  to  translate  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  into  the  common  Greek,  that  a  copy 
might  have  place  in  the  famous  Alexandrine  Library.  Hence 
this  Greek  translation  is  known  by  the  number  engaged  in  the 
work  of  translation — the  Septuagint.  The  effect  of  this  move- 
ment was  to  give  to  the  nations  the  teachings  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  which  served  to  mold  the  expectations  respecting 
the  Golden  Age  into  an  apprehension  of  a  Divine  Person  who 
should  descend  from  heaven,  whose  advent  became  the  central 
thought  of  the  Golden  Age.  Hence  Yergil,  about  forty  years 
before  the  Nativity  of  Jesus,  wrote : 

The  last  Age  decreed  by  the  Fates  is  come, 
And  a  new  frame  of  all  things  doth  begin ; 


*The  principal  classic  writers  who  refer  to  the  Golden  Age  were  Plautus, 
Terence,  Lucretius,  Catullus,  Csesar,  Cicero,  Sallust,  Propertlus,  Vergil,  Tlbullus, 
Livy,  Ovld,  Horace,  and  Heslod  ( Works  and  Days,  100). 

1  B.C.  250.  3A.  D.  14.  s  B.C.  33;?.  «A.  D.  280. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  25 

A  Holy  Progeny  from  heaven  descends 
Auspicious  in  his  birth,  which  puts  an  end 
To  the  Iron  Age,  from  which  shall  arise 
The  Golden  Age,  most  glorious  to  behold!^ 

The  narrative  of  the  Fall  in  Genesis  furnishes  the  first 
promise  of  a  Redeemer,  The  promise,  which  was  predictive 
in  character,  was  coeval  with  the  expulsion  of  « 13  TheScrip- 
our  first  parents  from  Paradise.  But  the  predic-  tiires. 
tion  was  expressed  in  terms  so  general  that,  in  effect,  it  was  as 
broad  as  the  race  of  man.  Meantime  there  would  be  constant 
conflict,  and  a  final  conquest.  God  said :  "  I  will  put  enmity 
between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her 
seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  [snap  at] 
his  heel."^  But  here  is  no  restriction  to  a  given  time  or 
place  or  person  for  the  realization.  The  hope  is  dim  and  dis- 
tant, but  accordant  with  the  simplicity  of  the  primitive  faith. 
However  the  promise  then,  it  was  reserved  for  after  ages  to 
unfold  the  supreme  meaning  in  a  series  of  gradual  and  pro- 
gressive revelations.  These  came  at  each  crisis  in  the  world's 
providential  history,  when  the  promise  narrowed  more  and 
more,  and  the  world's  hope  received  in  each  instance  added 
details  and  new  inspiration  related  to  the  Messiah,  In  the 
passage  of  the  ages,  the  Messianic  thought  became  gradually 
but  amply  developed. 

It  was  not  until  the  time  of  Abraham  that  they  knew  from 
what  nation  the  expected  Messiah  should  come :  "  I  will  bless 
them  that  bless  thee,  .  .  .  and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed."'  Then  were  realized  the  words  of 
Jesus:  "Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day:  he 
saw  it  and  was  glad ! "  ^  It  was  not  until  the  death  of  Jacob 
that  they  knew  from  what  tribe  he  should  be  found :  "  Judah, 
thou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren  shall  praise.  .  .  .  The  scepter 
shall  not  depart  from  Judah  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between 
his  feet,  until  Shiloh^  come,  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering 

SEclogelv.  «Gen.  111,15.  'Gen.  xll,3.  sjohn  vlli,  56. 

•  riv'ty,  Peafie-mofcer,  i.  e.  Messiah,  from  hHe^  rest. 


26  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  the  people  be."  The  Book  of  Eevelation  supplements  the 
statement  by  the  expression :  "  Behold  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah:  the  Root  of  David  hath  prevailed."  ^°  It  was  not 
until  the  time  of  David  that  they  knew  of  what  family  Mes- 
siah would  come :  "  The  Lord  hath  sworn  in  truth  unto  David 
...  Of  the  fruit  of  thy  body  will  I  set  upon  thy  throne."" 
"  I  will  establish  the  throne  of  his  kingdom  forever."  ^  "  In 
that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  in  the  house  of 
David  .  .  .  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness."  ^^  It  was  not  until  the 
time  of  Isaiah  that  they  knew  what  character  of  woman  should 
give  him  birth :  "  Therefore  the  Lord  himself  shall  give  you 
a  sign.  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  Son,  and 
shall  call  his  name  Immanuel,"  which  Matthew  cites,  add- 
ing, "  Which  being  interpreted  is,  God  with  us."  ^^  Nor  did 
they  know  of  what  person  Messiah  should  be  born,  until  Ga- 
briel appeared  and  himself  declared  unto  "a  virgin  espoused 
to  a  man  whose  name  was  Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David ;  and 
the  virgin's  name  was  MaryP'^^  '"''Fear  not^  Mary,  .  .  .  thou 
shalt  bring  forth  a  Son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.  He 
shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Highest: 
and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  throne  of  his  father 
David ;  and  he  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  forever ; 
and  of  bis  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end."  ^^  Nor  did  they 
know  at  what  place  Messiah  should  be  born  until  the  time  of 
Micah :  "  But  thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratha,  though  thou  be  little 
among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  come 
forth  unto  me  [One  that  is]  to  be  the  Ruler  in  Israel,  whose 
goings  forth  have  been  from  old,  from  everlasting."  " 

g  14.    Jewish  Literature. 

a)  Jewish  Talmud.  Talmudic  literature  is  replete  with 
interesting  references  to  Messianic  expectations  based  upon 
Hebrew  prophecy  as  taught  by  the  ancient  Rabbis  respecting 
both  the  birth  and  the  character  of  the  "  Coming  One." 

A.  MessiaKs  Birth.     The  continuance  of  the    world   wiU 

ioRev.v,5.  "Ps.cxxxll,ll.       122  Sam,  vll,  13.       >3Zech.  xlll,  1.       "Isa.vll, 

14  ;  Matt.  1,  22,  23.        is  Luke  1,  26,  27.        i«  Luke  1,  30-33.       "  Mic.  v,  2  :  Matt.  11,  6. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  27 

be  for  "a  week  of  heavenly  days;"  "two  thousand  years  of 
confusion ;  two  thousand  years  under  the  Law ;  and  two  thou- 
sand are  the  days  of  the  Messiah."  ^^  "After  the  two  thousand 
years  of  the  Law,  according  to  the  decree,  Messiah  ought  to 
come."  According  to  this  calculation,  it  was  exactly  at  the 
close  of  the  period  when  "  the  fullness  of  time  was  come,"  that 
Messiah  did  appear  in  the  birth  and  person  of  Jesus  Christ. 
"  He  came  unto  his  own  [nation]  but  his  own  received  him  not."  ^^ 
Eabbi  Frey  says  that  now  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
Rabbis  agree  with  the  famous  Rab,  that  the  time  is  long  past 
from  every  viewpoint,  according  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
when  Messiah  must  have  come,  and  we  must  look  into  the 
past  to  identify  him.  The  Rabbis  say,  "  The  right  time  for 
Messiah's  advent  is  passed,  and  he  is  now  believed  to  have 
been  born."  "  For  the  Messiah  is  born ;  his  name  is  Mendchem 
\^Comforter'\P  "Messiah  was  born  at  the  royal  residence  of 
Bethlehem  in  Judasa,"  In  the  Talmudic  book  called  "  Gene- 
rations," it  is  said :  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  horn  .  ,  .  under 
the  Emperor  Augustus;  and  at  the  same  time  there  lived  [at 
Jerusalem]  Rabbi  Simeon  ben  Hillel  and  Jochanan  ben  Zacha. 
From  this  time  begin  the  years  of  the  Nazarene^''  or  the  Chris- 
tian era. 

B.  His  Incarnation.  Founded  upon  Isaiah's  prediction  of 
the  Messiah's  virgin  mother,  the  Rabbis  record  that  Messiah 
was  born  of  a  virgin,  with  the  added  emphasis  that  "He 
should  be  without  an  earthly  father,"  because  he  should  not  be 
the  progeny  of  any  man,  but  should  be  "  the  seed  of  the 
woman;"  and  appearing  in  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  he 
would  come  into  the  world  without  an  ancestry,  and  leave  the 
world  without  a  posterity.  This  proposition  is  substantially 
conveyed  by  ancient  Rabbis  in  different  forms  of  expression  as 
follows :  "^ 

1.  "  Come  see  the  way  of  the  blessed  God  is  not  like  that  of  flesh  and 
blood.     For  the  Lord  hath  created  a  new  thing:   a  woman  shall 

*  For  references  to  the  Jewish  Talmud  and  the  Scriptural  bases,  see  Rabbi 
Fray's  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  pp.  125,  126,  137. 

18  Edzard,  66;  Schottgen,  11,  963.  w  John  1.  11. 


28  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

compass  a  Man."    Jcr.    xxxi,  22.      "  This  is  the  King  Messiah  of 

whom  it  is  written:    Thou  art  my  Son:  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee." 

(Psa.  11,  7.) 
"This  is  that  seed  which  shall  arise /rom  a  different  place.    .    .    .    It 

is  the  King  Messiah." 
"  The  Man  whose  name  is  Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  place  by  a 

different  principle  of  generation."     (Isa.  xi,  1;  Jer.  xxiii,  5,  6.) 
"  The  Redeemer  whom  I  will  raise  up  among  you,  shall  not  have  a 

father,  according  to  Zechariah"  (vi,  12,  13). 
"  The  birth  of  the  Messiah  alone  shall  not  be  like  that  of  any  other 

creatures  in  the  world  ;"  but  is  an  Incarnation. 
"The  bii'th  of  the  Messiah  alone  shall  be  without  defect;"  that  is, 

sinless. 
"  The  birth  of  the  Messiah  shall  be  like  the  dew  from  the  Lord,  as 

drops  upon  the  grass  expect  not  the  labor  of  man." 

8.  "  None  shall  know  his  Father  until  he  tells  it."     (John  vii,  27 ;  ix,  29.) 

9.  "  The   King   Messiah   shall   be   revealed   in   the   land   of    Galilee." 

(John  ii,  1-11;  Luke  iv,  14-22.) 

These  rabbinical  references  descriptive  of  the  Messiah's 
Nativity  are  peculiarly  Jewish  conceptions  and  expression. 
The  Incarnation  of  the  Messiah  is  the  central  thought.  They 
not  only  apply  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  to  no  others ;  and 
they  accentuate  his  identity  with  the  Messiahship  both  in 
character  and  fact.  The  revelation  of  the  Messianic  character 
and  person,  and  his  relation  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King, 
came  through  Hebrew  prophets.^  But  the  realization  of  his 
coming  and  ruling,  his  power  and  glory,  was  by  no  means  re- 
stricted to  the  Hebrew  people  and  commonwealth.  They 
were  the  medium  for  the  communication  of  the  great  fact 
and  interests  involved  applying  to  the  whole  human  race. 
Nevertheless,  Israel  failed  of  the  great  apprehension,  and  mis- 
interpreted that  which  was  wholly  spiritual,  as  being  wholly 
secular  and  restorative  of  the  Hebrew  nation  from  the  oppres- 
sions of  the  Komans,  to  their  ancient  kingdom  and  splendor.'^ 

)8)  Chaldaic  Targum.  These  writings  illustrate  and  evi- 
dence what  the  traditional  teachings  had  been  previously  to 
the  Nativity  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  the  contemporary  view  enter- 


so  Psa.  11,  xl,  ex;  Isa.  11,  xl,  1111. 

«Acts  1,  6;  Luke  xxU,  24-80;  xxlv,  21;  Mark  xl,  10. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  29 

tained  respecting  the  Messiah's  coming.     The   loritten   para- 
phrases belong  to  the  first  half  of  the  first  Christian  century. 

A.  The  Targum  of  Onkelos  is  very  restricted  and  exact  in 
expression,  but  being  limited  to  the  Pentateuch,  the  Messianic 
references  are  necessarily  scanty. 

a)  Shiloh.  "Till  Shiloh  come:"  "  Till  Messiah  comes,  whose  is  the 
kingdom,  and  to  whom  is  the  gathering  of  the  nations.'"^* 

P)  Balaam.  "A  king  shall  arise  from  Jacob,  and  a  Messiah  shall  be 
anointed  from  Israel."  " 

B.  Targum  of  Jonathan  covering  the  Prophets,  makes 
frequent  reference  to  Messiah,  and  the  references  are  accord- 
ant with  later  teachings. 

7)  A  King.  "A  King  shall  come  forth  from  the  sons  of  Jesse,  and 
Messiah  shall  arise  from  his  sons'  sons.  This  is  the  Branch  of  the  Lord, 
the  son  given  to  the  house  of  David,  who  shall  endure  forever,  in  whose 
time  shall  be  much  peace."" 

S)  Descent.  Messiah  is  David's  Son,  who  "  shall  go  forth  from  them, 
and  be  revealed  from  the  midst  of  them,  and  teach  them  the  worship  of 
the  Lord,  as  the  mystical  Shepherd  to  whom  the  flock  should  be  restored, 
in  whom  all  the  just  should  trust,  and  all  the  humble  dwell  under  the 
shadow  of  His  kingdom.""* 

e)  Redeemer.  "Because  God  hath  cleansed  their  souls  from  sins, 
they  shall  see  the  kingdom  of  their  Messiah,  they  shall  have  many  sons 
and  daughters,  they  shall  prolong  their  days,  and  keeping  the  Law  of  the 
Lord  they  shall  be  happy  according  to  His  good  pleasure." 

7)  Jewish  People.  As  already  seen  there  were  fragments 
and  aspects  related  to  the  Messianic  personality  and  character 
scattered  along  through  the  Old  Testament  which  the  apostles 
have  gathered  up  and  framed  into  a  living  portrait  of  the 
Christ  of  God.  The  Gospels  exhibit  how  widespread  was  the 
understanding  with  the  people,  and  how  keen  was  their  antici- 
pation of  his  advent,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  coming.  lie  is 
especially  referred  to  as  a  Prophet  in  a  pre-eminent  sense,  as 
the  Son  of  David,  as  the  Messiah  of  Scripture,  as  the  Son  of 
God.  These  terms  were  all  designations  of  the  Messianic 
Person :   and  they  are  all  applied  to  Jesus  Christ.     John  by 


« Gen.  xlix,  10.  «Isa.  xl,  1;  iv.  2;  Jer.  xxlli,  5;  xxxlii,  15;  Isa.  Ix,  6. 

S3  Num.  xxlv,  17.  !»  Hos.  ill,  5 ;  Jer.  xxx,  9 ;  xxxill,  13-15 ;  Ezek.  xvll,  23. 


30  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

his  preaching  intensified  the  people's  sense  of  apprehension  on 
this  subject.  When  multitudes  thronged  to  his  baptism,  some 
questioned  whether  he  himself  was  not  the  Messiah.  They  said : 

"  Who  art  thou  ?  And  he  confessed,  and  denied  not,  but  confessed, 
I  am  not  the  Christ."  "Ye  yourselves  bear  me  witness  that  I  said,  I 
am  not  the  Christ,  but  that  I  am  sent  before  Him."  "^  "  What  then,  art 
thou  Elijah?  And  he  saith,  I  am  not.  Art  thou  that  Prophet  f  and  he 
answered,  No.""  The  Pharisees  asked  the  blind-born:  "  What  sayest 
thou  of  him  in  that  he  opened  thine  eyes  ?  And  he  said,  He  is  a 
Prophet."'*  When  Cleopas  and  another  disciple  knew  not  Jesus  on  the 
day  of  his  rising,  they  related  to  him  the  crucifixion,  "  Concerning  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  who  was  a  Prophet,  mighty  in  deed  and  word  before  God 
and  all  the  people.  .  .  But  we  trusted  that  it  had  been  he  which 
should  have  redeemed  Israel."'^  When,  on  the  last  and  great  day  of  the 
feast  Jesus  at  the  temple  addressed  the  people,  some  of  the  multitude, 
when  they  heard  his  words,  said  :  "  This  is  of  a  truth  the  Prophet:  others 
said.  This  is  the  Christ.  But  some  said,  What,  doth  the  Christ  come  out 
of  Galilee  ?  Hath  not  the  Scripture  said  that  the  Christ  cometh  of  the 
seed  of  David,  and  from  Bethlehem,  the  village  where  David  was?"'" 
Peter  said  to  the  people :  "And  it  shall  be  that  every  soul  which  will  not 
hearken  to  that  Prophet,  shall  be  utterly  destroyed  from  among  the 
people.  Yea,  and  all  the  prophets  from  Samuel,  and  them  that  followed 
after,  as  many  as  have  spoken,  they  also  told  of  these  days."  '^ 

Nevertheless,  the  people's  hope  had  been  much  secularized 

by  rabbinical  teachings.     Even  the  disciples  were  expecting 

Christ  to  come  and  establish  an  earthly  kingdom,  in  which 

some  of  them  were  ambitious  to  occupy  places  of  honor.     Yet 

twice  at  least  directly,  and  oftener  by  indirection,  did   the 

disciples  identify  and  call  Jesus  "  Messiah." 

"  Andrew  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon,  and  saith  unto  him, 
We  have  found  the  Messiah,  which  is  being  interpreted  the  Christ."" 
"  Philip  findeth  Nathanael  and  saith  unto  him.  We  have  found  him  of 
whom  Moses  in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
the  son  of  Joseph.'"'  Nathanael  approaching  Jesus  said,  "  Rabbi,  thou 
art  the  Son  of  God:  thou  art  King  of  Israel."^* 

At  Caesarea-on-the-Sea,  Paul  said  unto  King  Agrippa  II: 

"  And  now  I  stand  and  am  judged  for  the  hope  of  the  promise  made 
of  God  unto  our  fathers ;  unto  which  promise  our  twelve  tribes,  instantly 

28  Luke  111,  16;  John  1,  20;  ill,  28.  =9  Luko  xxlv,  19, 21.  32  John  1,  4L 

S'Johnl,  21.  3"John  vll,  40,41,-12.  83/6.1,45. 

asjohnlx,  17.  3i  Acts  111,  23, 24.  »*IbA,id. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  31 

serving  God  day  and  night,  hope  to  come."'*  With  "  the  just  and  de- 
vout Simeon,"  many  were  "waiting  for  the  Consolation  of  Israel;" 
"  and  it  was  revealed  unto  him  that  he  should  not  see  death  before  that 
he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ."  And  taking  the  child  up  in  his  arms, 
he  said:  "  Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  O  Lord,  accord- 
ing to  thy  word  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation  which  thou  hast 
prepared  before  the  face  of  all  peoples ;  a  light  for  revelation  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel."  ^"^ 

These  instances  indicate  how  widespread  and  constant  was 
the  anticipation  of  "the  Coming  One"  among  the  Jewish 
people,  but  also  illustrate  their  identification  of  the  Messianic 
Person.  Nevertheless,  there  remained  doubts  with  some  re- 
specting where  Messiah  should  be  born,  and  hence  questioning 
about  his  identity.     Some  of  Jerus  alem  said : 

"Do  the  rulers  know  indeed  that  this  is  the  very  Christ?  How- 
beit  we  know  this  man  whence  he  is ;  but  when  Christ  Cometh,  no  man 
knoweth  whence  He  is."''  "  Many  of  the  people  .  .  .  said.  Of  a  truth 
this  is  the  Prophet.  Others  said,  This  is  the  Christ.  But  some  said, 
Shall  Christ  come  out  of  Galilee  ?  Hath  not  the  Scripture  said,  That 
Christ  Cometh  of  the  seed  of  David,  and  out  of  the  town  of  Bethlehem 
where  David  was  ?  So  there  was  a  division  among  the  people  because  of 
him." '®  At  Capernaum  they  said :  "  Is  not  this  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph, 
whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?  How  is  it  then  that  he  saith,  I 
came  down  from  heaven?"'*  The  Pharisees  said  unto  Nicodemus: 
"Art  thou  also  of  Galilee?  Search  and  look;  for  out  of  Galilee  ariseth 
no  Prophet."  *"  When  Jesus  wrought  miracles  upon  the  dumb,  the 
blind,  and  the  possessed,  "All  the  people  were  amazed,  and  said:  Is  not 
this  the  Son  of  David  ? "  Two  blind  men  followed  him  and  cried :  "Thou 
Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  us."  "  Jesus  himself  said  to  the  Pharisees, 
"What  think  ye  of  Christ?  Whose  Son  is  He?  They  say  unto  him. 
The  Son  of  David.  He  saith  unto  them.  How  then  doth  David  in  the 
Spirit  call  him  Lord?  .  .  If  David  then  call  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his 
Son  ?  And  no  man  was  able  to  answer  him  a  word,  neither  durst  any 
man  ask  him  any  more  questions."*'  And  in  his  last  and  triumphal 
march  to  Jerusalem,  the  people  shouted:  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David:  "  "  Blessed  be  the  kingdom  of  our  father  David  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord."^ 

8  15.    Other  Nations. 

a)  Wise  Men.  Even  the  Magi,  who  had  traversed  stream 
and  mountain  and  desert  from  the  distant  East,  came  to  Jeru- 

8s  Acts  xxvl,  6,  7,  38  26.  vii,  41,  42.       ^Ih.  vil,  52,  « 76.  Ix,  27 ;  xx,  30. 

K  Luke  11,  25, 26,  28-32,  39/5.  yl,  42.  «  Matt.  xii.  23.       « /ft.  xxU,  41-46, 

^  Jolin  vli,  26,  27.  «  Matt,  xxi,  9 ;  Mark  xl,  10 ;  Luke  xix,  38, 
8 


32  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

salem,  saying:  ""Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews, 
for  we  have  seen  his  star  in  the  east,  and  have  come  to 
worship  him."^^ 

/?)  Canaanite.  The  woman  of  Canaan  understood  the  situ- 
ation when  she  cried  out  after  Jesus:  "Have  mercy  on  me,  O 
Lord,  thou  Son  of  David:  my  daughter  is  grievously  vexed 
with  a  devil."  "^ 

y)  Samaritans.  The  Samaritan  woman  at  the  well  said  to 
Jesus:  "I  know  that  Messias  cometh  who  is  called  Christ: 
when  He  is  come,  he  will  declare  all  things  unto  us.  Jesus 
saith  unto  her :  /  that  speah  unto  thee  am  he^  She  reported 
to  the  men  of  the  city:  "Come,  see  a  man  who  told  me  all 
things  that  ever  I  did;  can  this  be  the  Christ?"  And  from 
that  city  "many  Samaritans  believed  on  him  because  of  the 
word  of  the  woman  who  testified,  He  told  me  all  things  that 
ever  I  did.  .  .  .  And  many  more  believed  because  of  his  word ; 
and  they  said  unto  the  woman :  Now  we  believe,  not  because 
of  thy  speaking;  for  we  have  heard  him  ourselves,  and  hnow 
that  this  is  indeed  the  Savior  of  the  World.^^  ^^ 

In  ascertaining  how  deep  and  widespread  was  the  persua- 
sion of  men  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  the  Scriptures  have 
been  cited  in  illustration,  the  same  as  any  other  literature. 
This  is  legitimate  since  the  Scriptures  are  the  only  source  from 
which  we  derive  the  Messianic  idea;  and  these  writings  are 
indispensable  in  learning  what  the  Messianic  idea  was.  They 
published  abroad  among  the  family  of  nations  the  advent  of 
One  who  should  be  known  as  ''Hhe  Prince  of  Peace ^""^  whoso 
coming  would  introduce,  in  the  spiritual  and  supreme  sense, 
the  Golden  Age  of  the  world.  Prophecy  had  distinctly  declared 
that  "The  Desire  of  Nations  shall  come;""*^  and  "the  isles 
shall  wait  for  his  Law:"^  "and  on  his  name  shall  the  Gentiles 
hope,"^^  whose  dominion  shall  be  "an  everlasting  dominion 
which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall 


«  Matt.  11,2.  «i6.  XV,  22.  «  John  Iv,  25,  26,  29,  39,  41,  42.  «l8a.  lx,6. 

♦»Hag.  11,  7.    ''Olsa.  xlll,  4.    "  koX  iv  rip  6v6fj.aTi  avroO  fOvrj  iXTrioOffiv,  Matt.  xU,  21. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  33 

not  be  destroyed."^  As  "the  fullness  of  time"^  was  at  hand, 
the  conviction  deepened  as  it  was  already  widespread,  in  wait- 
ing expectancy  of  Messiah's  advent,  due  probably  to  the  trust 
and  activity  of  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  who  in  all  lands 
abroad  had  been  teaching  the  Greek  Scriptures  of  the  Septu- 
agint.     As  remarked  by  a  learned  writer : 

"  By  their  dispersion  among  so  many  nations,  by  their  conversations 
with  the  learned  men  among  the  heathen,  and  the  [Jews'  ]  translation  [the 
Septuagint]  of  their  inspired  writings  into  a  language  almost  universal, 
the  principles  of  their  religion  were  spread  all  over  the  East ;  and  it 
became  the  common  belief  that  a  Prince  would  arise  at  that  time  in 
Jud?ea,  and  would  change  the  face  of  the  world,  and  extend  his  empire 
from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other."  ** 

Meantime,  Jesus  of  ISTazareth  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of 
Judaea,  exactly  accordant  with  every  predicted  circumstance 
mentioned  in  the  ancient  Scriptures.  He  lived  his  life;  he 
wrought  his  works;  he  completed  his  ministry;  he  fulfilled 
the  Messianic  hope;  he  claimed  the  Messianic  character  as 
the  Christ  of  Scripture.  But  in  one  particular  he  disap- 
pointed Jewish  expectation  grievously.  He  refused  absolutely 
to  become  monarch  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth.  Before  the 
people  and  before  Pilate,  he  rejected  all  claims  to  a  temporal 
kingship.  "When  Jesus  therefore  perceived  that  they  would 
come  and  take  him  by  force,  and  make  him  a  king,  he  with- 
drew again  into  a  mountain,  himself  alone."  ^  And  when  the 
Roman  procurator  asked  him  pointedly,  "Art  thou  the  king  of 
the  Jews?  .  .  .  Jesus  answered.  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world."  ^  This  was  an  absolute  repudiation  of  an  earthly 
kingdom.  He  would  not  deliver  the  Jews  from  the  Roman 
yoke.  Therefore  they  ignored  his  Messianic  claims;  they 
rejected  his  divine  character;  they  crucified  his  person;  and 
ever  since,  in  order  to  vindicate  their  own  prophetic  Scrip- 
tures, they  have  had  recourse  to  some  heathen  ruler  as  the 
"Chosen  One,"  who,  so  far  from  delivering  them  from  the 

MDan.  vll,  14.        esQal.  iv.  4;  Eph.  1,10.       6<  Dr.  Henderson  Buck  In  the  £wcZ. 
Relig.  Knowl.,  1859,  p.  859.  65  John  vl,  15.  5*  John  xvlii,  33,  36. 


34  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

oppressive  Romans,  one  actually  came  at  the   head  of  the 
Roman  army  and  utterly  destroyed  their  nation. 

About  thirt3^-five  years  after  the  crucifixion,  Yespasian,  a 
Roman  general  of  distinction,  with  the  imperial  army  invaded 
Palestine  for  the  express  purpose  of  subjugating 
mony^o/'    the  rebellious  Jews.      At  the  headquarters  the 
Adversaries,  ^g^g  ^y^s  received  that  the  Emperor  of  Rome 
was  dead.     Thereupon  the  soldiery  immediately  proclaimed 
Yespasian  emperor.     Accordingly,  Yespasian  turned  over  his 
large  and  powerful  command  to  his  son  Titus,  who  accom- 
panied him  in  this  campaign,  while  he  himself  went  to  the 
imperial  capital  to  assume  the  purple  and  prerogatives  of  the 
throne.    This  circumstance  explains  the  testimonies  now  to  be 
introduced. 

a)  Vergil.  It  has  already  been  seen  how  this  poet  anticipated  that 
"  the  last  age  had  come"  when  a  new  era  would  begin ;  "a  Holy  Progeny 
from  heaven  descends,  auspicious  in  his  birth,"  who  should  introduce 
^' the  Golden  Age,  most  glorious  to  behold."^'' 

/3)  Josephus.  "That  which  did  especially  inspire  them  [the  Jews] 
to  undertake  this  war  was  an  ambiguous  oracle  found  likewise  in  their 
Sacred  Writings,  how  that  some  one  of  their  own  co^intry ,  pertaining  to  that 
time,  should  attain  the  empire  of  the  habitable  earth.  The  Jews  took  this 
prediction  to  belong  to  themselves  in  particular,  and  many  of  their  wise 
men  were  deceived  thereby  in  their  judgment."  After  this  testimony, 
he  adds  his  opinion:  "Now  this  oracle  certainly  denoted  the  govern- 
ment of  Vespasian,  who  was  appointed  emperor  [while  he  was  yet]  in 
Judfea."  ^ 

y)  Suetonius.  "A  firm  persuasion  had  long  prevailed  through  all 
the  East,  that  it  was  fated  [i.  e.,  contained  in  the  Book  of  Fates  or 
Prophecies]  at  that  time,  to  devolve  on  some  one  who  should  come 
forth  from  Jud?ea.  This  prediction  referred  to  the  Roman  emperor 
[Vespasian]  as  the  event  proved ;  but  the  Jews,  applying  it  to  them- 
selves, engaged  in  rebellion."** 

5)  Tacitus.  Speaking  of  the  prodigies  which  occurred  prior  to  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  he  says:  "A  few  turned  these  events  into  a 
cause  for  alarm ;  the  greater  number  were  possessed  with  a  belief  that 


w  Ecloge  Iv;  cf.  Ovld,  1,  80,  and  Eusobius,  Prseparationls  Evangellcae,  Lib.  1,  7; 
xli  13.  68  wj-  Kara  rbv  Kaipbv  inuvov  awb  rij^  X'^PT  ''"'S'  a^'"'^'',  Wars  VI,  5,  $  4. 

6»"  Precrebuerat  Orlente  tolo,  vetus  et  constans  opinio,  esse  In  fatls  ut  eo  tempore, 
Judaea  profectl  reruni  potlrentur.  Id,  de  Imperatore  Romano,  quantum  eventu 
postea  predictum  parult,  Judael  ad  se  trahentes,  rebellarunt."    Vespas.  4. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah  35 

it  was  written  in  the  ancient  writings  of  the  priests  that  it  would  come 
to  pass  at  that  very  time,  that  the  East  would  grow  mighty,  and  that  men 
proceeding  from  Judaea  would  gain  the  empire  of  the  world — an  ambig- 
uous oracle  which  had  foretold  [the  fortunes  of]  Vespasian  and  Titus."*" 
e)  Celsus.  Representing  himself  as  be-ng  a  Jew,  he  says:  "The 
prophets  declare  Him  coming  to  be  great,  the  Potentate  of  all  the  earth, 
Lord  of  the  nations  and  armies."  "  How  should  we,  having  made  known 
to  all  mankind  that  there  is  to  come  from  God  One  punishing  the  wicked, 
dishonor  him  having  come?"®^ 

CRITICAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

There  was  a  widespread  conviction  among  the  nations  of  a 
Golden  Age  to  come ;  that  it  would  be  marked  by  the  advent 
of  a  Personage  descended  from  heaven  who  would  ^  j,^  The  Fact 
become  the  Euler  of  the  world ;  that  this  expecta-  Predicted, 
tion  was  of  long  continuance,  whose  realization  was  related  to 
a  definite  period, — are  so  many  facts  affirmed  absolutely  by 
the  several  writers  cited.  Of  the  five  writers  quoted,  one  was 
a  Latin  poet,  one  was  an  eclectic  philosopher,  and  three  were 
historians,  of  whom  one  was  a  Jewish  priest,  and  two  were 
Eoman  authors  of  fame.  Not  one  of  the  five  can  be  said  to 
have  been  friendly  to  Christ  or  his  cause.  Nevertheless,  the 
ideas  of  every  one  on  this  subject  were  evidently  derived  from 
the  Scriptures,  as  is  obvious  from  the  reference  to  "the  Book 
of  Fates,"  which  is  the  heathen  designation  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets  kept  in  the  custody  of  the  priests.  They  agree  on 
the  main  facts,  but  differ  on  the  details.  The  Jews  them- 
selves, unto  whom  the  facts  predicted  were  given  by  Divine 
revelations,  and  in  whose  special  interests  they  were  to  have 
realization,  were  instructed  from  the  first  to  understand  that 
the  application  of  this  prophecy  was  absolutely  and  exclu- 
sively to  be  made  to  Messiah,  who  was  the  burden  of  these 
Sacred  Writings;  and  that  when  he  should  appear,  these  pre- 
dictions should  find  definite  and  complete  verification  in  his 


«oHlst.  V,  13:  "Pluribus  persuaslo  Inerat,  antlquls  sacerdotum  Uteris  contl- 
nerl  eo  ipso  tempore  fore,  ut  valesceret  Oriens,  profectlque  Judaea  reruin  potlr- 
entur.  Quae  ambages  Vespaslanum  ac  Titum  prsedixerant."  Westcott's  transl. 
Jntrod.  to  Gospels,  152.  «»  Origen  contra  Celsum,  Lib.  11,  c.  29;  11,  8. 


36  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testazhent. 

history.  This  circumstance  is  of  paramount  importance  in 
determining  the  right  interpretation  of  the  facts  involved ;  for 
while  the  demands  of  the  predictive  text  have  never  been 
applicable  to  any  other  man  in  history  than  Jesus  Christ,  his 
case  fails  in  no  particular  of  being  the  intended  realization. 
But  at  the  time  of  his  advent,  the  teachers  taught  that  Mes- 
siah would  appear  as  a  political  Deliverer,  who  would  rescue 
them  from  Koman  domination,  and  give  them  back  their  tem- 
poral kingdom  with  all  its  ancient  glory.  They  overlooked 
the  fact  that  their  lawgiver  would  depart  from  his  place  when 
Shiloh  should  come.  In  Jewish  apprehension,  with  notable 
exceptions,  there  was  a  missing  of  the  true  sense  and  grandeur 
of  Christ's  character  and  identity.  Certainly  no  one  ever  arose 
to  give  the  Jewish  nation  deliverance  from  the  Romans.  Upon 
the  contrary^  the  Romans  destroyed  the  Jewish  nation^  hurned 
down  their  temple^  and  abolished  their  whole  system  of  religious 
ceremony.  Historically^  they  are  to-day  as  they  ha/ue  been  for 
nearly  two  thousand  years,  without  a  nationality,  without  a 
theocracy,  withoiit  a  temiyle,  without  a  sacrifice,  without  a  priest, 
a/nd  without  a  Messiah!  * 

It  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  attesting  witnesses  that,  in  inter- 
preting the  predictive  fact,  they  mention  the  expression  of 
"the  oracle"  as  being   both  "mysterious"  and 

'person  "ambiguous,"  as  seemingly  best  suited  to  their 
Predicted,  -^igjies.  It  is  obviously  scant  ground  to  rest  a 
conclusion  upon,  that  because  Vespasian,  who,  at  the  head  of 
the  Eoman  army,  came  as  an  invader  of  the  Jews'  land  and 
nation,  having  entered  upon  the  country,  was  called  thence  to 
the  imperial  throne,  he  met  all  the  demands  of  the  predicted 
Messiah.  Josephus  is  explicit  in  saying  that  "One  of  their 
own  country''''  (of  the  Jews),  not  Tyfo  foreigners  from  Italy,  as 
Tacitus  asserts,  "should  become  the  Kuler  of  the  habitable 
earth."  Yespasian  was  no  Jew;  he  did  not  arise  in  the  Jews' 
country,  but  was  a  Eoman  and  belonged  to  Home.     The  Jews 

*See  Hosealll,  4. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  37 

expected  their  Messiah  to  come  as  "  the  Prince  of  Peace,"  but 
Vespasian  came  as  a  man  of  war.  The  Jews  expected  that 
Messiah  would  establish  for  them  an  independent  monarchy ; 
whereas  Vespasian  took  from  them  the  last  of  their  ancient 
kingdom  and  glory.  The  Jews  had  hoped  to  acquire  an  undi- 
vided possession  of  their  own  land ;  but  Vespasian  expatriated 
all  the  people  from  their  native  Palestine.  The  Jews  were 
expected  to  occupy  a  position  in  which  they  could  dominate 
the  Gentile  nations  about  them ;  but  Vespasian  devastated  their 
country  and  reduced  their  people  to  a  condition  of  absolute 
slavery.  The  Jews  expected  a  Messianic  deliverance  from 
Eoman  power,  bringing  untold  prosperity  and  happiness  to 
their  nation;  but  Vespasian  brought  them  "tribulation,  such 
as  there  hath  not  been  the  like  from  the  beginning  of  the  cre- 
ation which  God  had  created  until  now,  and  never  shall  be."®^ 
Dr.  Philip  Schaff  has  aptly  remarked : 

"Tacitus  and  Suetonius  speak  of  a  widespread  expectation  of  that 
kind,  at  the  time  of  the  Jewish  war  and  before,  but  falsely  refer  it  to 
the  Roman  emperors  Vespasian  and  Titus.  In  this  the  heathen  histo- 
rians follow  Josephus,  who  well  knew  and  believed  the  Messianic  hopes 
of  his  people,  and  yet  was  not  ashamed  basely  to  betray  and  pervert 
them."  63 

In  critical  investigation,  it  is  indispensable  to  difference 
that  which  is  fact  from  that  which  is  the  mere  opinion  of  the 
witness  respecting  the  fact;  between  the  revealed  „jq  pactand 
Messianic  anticipation,  and  the  perverted  interpre-  Opinion. 
tation  applied  to  it.  Opinion  is  not  evidence.  However  sin- 
cerely a  historian  may  entertain  a  speculative  conclusion,  it  is 
not  evidential.  Mere  sincerity  can  not  stand  for  history. 
Facts  are  the  canon  of  truth  and  sound  reasoning:  on  historical 
questions.  The  Messianic  fact,  however,  is  secure  and  can  not 
be  destroyed  by  misapprehension  or  perversion  or  misapplica- 
tion. If  it  should  be  said  that  the  claims  of  Jesus  to  the  Mes- 
siahship  are  rendered  uncertain  from  the  circumstance  that 


"Mark  xiii,  19;  Matt,  xxiv,  21.       **Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  I,  p.  114,  Note  1. 


38  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

"false  Christs"  have  arisen,  as  in  the  case  of  Bar-Kocheba,** 
in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  in  which  thousands  of  Jewish  adher- 
ents lost  their  lives,  the  sufficient  reply  is,  that  no  number  of 
false  Christs  proves  that  a  true  Christ  never  existed.  If  there 
were  no  original,  there  would  be  no  imitation ;  if  there  were 
no  genuine  coin  issued,  there  would  be  no  reason  for  spurious 
coin  to  exist.     False  evidence  can  not  disprove  the  truth. 

Unquestionably  even  the  disciples  of  Jesus  until  the  Pente- 
cost were  misled  by  their  unspiritual  preconceptions  of  what 
Messiah's  kingdom  and  reign  were  to  be.  They  obviously  be- 
lieved that  the  Son  and  successor  of  David  meant  literally 
David's  royalty  and  realm.  As  the  disciples  accompanied  the 
Master  to  the  Mount  of  Ascension,  they  asked  him:  "Lord, 
wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  of  Israel  ? "  ^ 
But  from  the  day  when  the  "  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of 
the  power"  came  upon  them,  they  stood  upon  a  higher  plane, 
and  had  a  realizing  sense  of  Christ's  saying  before  Pilate,  "My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  ^ 

There  is  some  discrepancy  between  Josephus  and  the  Roman 
historians  respecting  the  date  when  the  Messianic  prediction  of 
§  20  The  Time  Haggai  should  find  its  fulfillment.  Tacitus  and 
Predicted.  Suetonius  are  much  more  definite  as  to  the  exact 
point  of  time  contemplated  by  this  prophecy.  The  Roman 
writers  refer  the  realization  to  the  year  69,  when  Vespasian 
was  invading  Palestine,  but  was  recalled  to  assume  the  rule  of 
the  empire,  instead  of  the  year  of  Christ's  Nativity  which 
occurred  about  B.  C.  4.  Suetonius  says  definitely  "«^  i/iat 
time,"^  meaning  the  time  when  Vespasian  received  the  impe- 
rial crown.  He  declares  that  the  anticipation  was  "  an  old  and 
unvarying  expectation"  abroad  among  the  nations.  Tacitus 
is  even  more  emphatic  in  dating  the  occurrence  "  at  that  very 
time^^^^  referring  also  to  the  occasion  when  Vespasian  assumed 
the  imperial  purple  and  power.  But  Josephus,  on  whose  au- 
thority both  relied,  says  merely,  ^^ During  that  time"  as  a 

«♦  A.  D.  132-135.  ««  John  xvili,  86.  «  Eo  ipso  tempore. 

«*  Acts  1,  6.  •'  Eo  tempore. 


Anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  89 

'period^  "  One  from  their  own  country  [Palestine']  should  obtain 
the  empire  of  the  habitable  earths  ^  Long  after  the  Jews's  na" 
tionality  had  been  destroyed,  with  the  persistency  character- 
istic of  that  people,  did  they  carry  forward  their  cherished 
hope  of  a  Messiah  who  would  become  the  Governor  of  their 
restored  nation.  But  many  of  their  most  learned  and  judicious 
Rabbis  are  now,  not  looking  into  the  future  for  their  King, 
but  into  the  past;  and  some  have  found  him  in  the  Man  of 
Nazareth. 

Quite  a  number  of  claimants  have  arisen  in  the  past  ages 
for  the  place  and  honors  of  Messiah.  But  they  brought  with 
them  none  of  the  Christly  credentials.  Each  one  §ai.The 
in  turn  has  been  relegated  to  the  list  of  impostors.  Christ. 
Only  One  ever  absolutely  met  the  demands  of  the  predictive 
text.  If  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the  realization  of  Messianic 
prophecy,  there  never  was,  and  there  never  will  be,  a  Messiah- 
Savior.  There  never  was,  and  there  never  can  be,  but  the  one 
tiine  for  his  coming.  All  conditions  were  present  when  Jesus 
camCf  and  all  characteristics  centered  in  his  person.  No  hu- 
man being  as  he  ever  so  impressed  himself  upon  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  world,  and  made  that  impression  imperishable! 
For  nearly  two  thousand  years  the  crucified  One  has  lived 
in  the  hearts  of  myriads  of  human  beings.  There  never  was, 
there  never  will  be,  but  one  Christ.  Who  else  could  occupy 
his  place  in  history?  As  was  beautifully  expressed  by  Jean 
Paul  Richter,  "  The  life  of  Christ  concerns  him  who,  being  the 
holiest  of  the  mighty  and  the  mightiest  of  the  holy,  lifted, 
with  his  pierced  hands,  empires  off  their  hinges,  and  turned  the 
stream  of  centuries  out  of  its  channel,  and  still  governs  the 
Ages." 

Mln  the  Greek  text,  Josephus  employs  the  accusative  case  to  express  con' 
tinuance  of  time,  as  during  a  considerable  period  within,  wliich  the  event  occurred, 
rather  than  tlie  use  of  the  dative  case,  which  would  have  conveyed  the  idea  of 
a  definite  point  of  time  when  the  expected  Messiah  should  come.  Scholars 
will  observe  the  force  of  the  preposition  in  connection  with  the  accusative 
case:  Kara,  rbv  Kaipbv  iKeivov — down  along,  or,  during  that  period.  The  testimony 
of  Josephus,  then,  is  to  this  effect:  "Some  one  from  their  own  country  during 
that  period  of  time  should  attain  the  empire  of  the  habitable  earth." 


CHAPTEE  II. 

NATIYITY  OF  JESUS  CHEIST. 

I.  The  Four  Gospels:  Their  Objects,  Character,  and  Contents. 
II.  The  Value  op  mere  Opinions:  Not  Evidential  as  Testimony. 

III.  The  Affirmations  op  Adversaries  respecting  Christ's  Nativity. 

o)  The  Witness  of  the  Jewish  Talmud. 

/3)  TTie  Witness  of  the  Toledoth  Jeshu. 

y)  The  Witness  of  the  Literary  Champion,  Celsus. 

5)  The  Witness  of  the  Emperor,  Julian  the  Apostate, 

IV.  The  Confirmation  op  Adversaries  by  Christian  Wbiters. 

a)  Witness  of  Ignatius,  A.  D.  110. 

/S)  Witness  of  Tertullian,  A.  D.  200. 

7)  Witness  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  A.  D.  56-58. 

V.  Inductions  Warranted  by  the  Facts  Evidenced. 
Analysis,  Review  and  Summary  of  the  Evidence. 
41 


Chapter  II. 
THE  NATIVITY  OF  JESUS. 

§22.   Soiirces:  Biographical  Epitomes  of  Witnesses  and  Literature. 

Those  hostile  to  Christianity  whose  testimony  is  adduced  in 
this  chapter  are  Julian  the  Apostate,  and  the  rabbinical  authors 
of  the  Jewish  Talmud,  and  the  Toledoth  Jeshu,  or  '*  History  of 
Jesus."  Those  friendly  to  the  faith  are  Origen,  Ignatius,  and 
Tertullian.  Those  of  modern  criticism  are  Tischendorf,  Westcott, 
and  Lardner. 

1.  Julian  was  born  at  Constantinople  on  November  6,  331  A.  D.,  and 
died  in  June  26,  863,  when  in  his  thirty-second  year.  He  ruled 
the  Roman  Empire  conjointly  about  six  years,  but  as  sole  emperor 
about  eighteen  months.  History  accords  him  eminence  for  genius, 
learning,  and  chastity  of  character.  In  his  extreme  ambition  for 
fame  he  became  openly  hostile  to  Christianity.  He  renounced 
the  Christian  religion  when  about  twenty  years  of  age,  but  kept 
the  fact  secret  from  the  army  until  after  it  had  declared  him  to 
be  sole  emperor.  Hence  originated  the  dishonoring  epithet 
ascribed  to  him,  "the  Apostate."  His  education  had  been 
nominally  Christian  under  the  direction  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of 
Nicomedia.  But  the  despotic  rule  in  his  education  reacted  in 
Julian's  mind  to  that  extent  that  he  went  over  to  dire  paganism, 
and  became  as  fanatical  in  his  devotion  to  heathenism  as  he  was 
a  hater  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  It  can  not  be  denied  that  Julian  was  a  persecutor."  (Lard- 
ner.) He  proclaimed  to  the  world  tliat  he  would  prove  the  pre- 
diction of  Jesus  false  respecting  the  rebuilding  of  the  Jews' 
temple  at  Jerusalem.  The  Savior  had  said,  "Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  There  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another."  (Matt, 
xxiv,  1,  2;  Mark  xiii,  2;  Luke  xix,  41-44;  xxi,  5,  6.)  Julian  sent 
his  personal  friend  Alypius  to  superintend  the  reconstruction  of 
the  temple  at  the  expense  of  the  imperial  treasury,  promising 
that  if  the  Jews  would  return  and  assist  in  the  work,  on  his  re- 
turn from  the  Persian  expedition,  he  would  be  present  at  the 
dedication,  and  the  Mosaic  sacrifices  would  be  resumed.  This  he 
did,  not  for  any  regard  for  Judaism,  but  from  a  spirit  of  hatred 
toward  the  Christ'an  religion.  But  he  never  returned,  and  the 
temple  was  never  rebuilt,  and  the  Mosaic  rites  were  never  re- 

43 


44  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

sumed.  He  was  mortally  wounded  in  this  campaign,  and  died  in 
camp.  He  suppressed  Christian  schools,  and  meant  to  exter- 
minate Christianity  fi-om  the  earth.  The  skeptical  Gibbon  says  of 
Julian:  "He  affected  to  pity  the  unhappy  Christians,  .  .  .  but 
his  pity  was  degraded  with  contempt ;  his  contempt  was  em- 
bittered with  hatred  ;  and  the  sentiments  of  Julian  were  expressed 
in  a  style  of  sarcastic  wit  which  inflicted  deep  and  deadly  wounds, 
wherever  it  issues  from  the  mouth  of  a  sovereign."  (Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  c.  xxiii,  Amer.  ed.)  His  profound 
estrangement  is  illustrated  in  several  Letters  while  at  Antioch, 
Syi'ia,  which  was  then  the  center  of  Christianity  for  the  Gentiles. 
These  Letters  were  directed  against  the  Antiochian  Christians,  as 
were  also  his  works  entitled  The  Ceesars,  Misopogon,  a  satirical 
writing ;  but  with  a  more  general  purpose  he  designated  his 
famous  book  entitled  Kara  Xpto-nawv,  Against  the  Christians.  By 
reason  of  a  mistaken  zeal  this  work  was  destroyed  by  Theodosius 
II,  mere  fragments  having  been  preserved  in  Cyril's  refutation  of 
Julian's  writing. 

2.  The  Talmud  :  * 

1.  On  Mary  and  the  Nativity  of  Jesus:  See  tract  Avoda  Zara, 
folio  16,  b ;  Sanhedrin  f .  67,  a ;  Kalla  18,  b.  of  Babylonian  Talmud  ; 
also  Nederim  48,  a ;  Kethuhoth  12,  a ;  Seder  Hadoros,  p.  119 ;  Zamach 
David,  c.  ii,  p.  84. 

2.  On  Christ's  residence  in  Egypt:  Bab.  Tal.  Sanhedr.  7,  a,  b; 
fol.  107,  b.     See  Heb.     Talmudic  Exercitations,  pp.  Ill,  112. 

3.  On  the  Miracles  of  Jesus  (explained  as  "Magical  Arts  "  or 
"Sorcery"):  Bab.  Tal.  Shabbath  fol.  104,  b;  107,  b.  Jerusalem 
Talmud,  Shabbath  fol.  13,  1 ;  f.  4,  2. 

4.  On  the  Crucifixion  of  Jesus:  Bab.  Tal.  Sanhedr.  43,  a;  67,  a, 
and  107,  b. 

5.  On  the  Disciples  of  Jesus:  Bab.  Tal.  Sanhedrin,  43,  a.  fin; 
Avoda  Zara  f.  16,  b. 

6.  On  the  Disciples'  Miracles:  Jerus.  Talmud,  Shabbath  fol.  14, 
4;  one  by  James:  Avoda  Zara,  40,  4;  fol.  16.  2 ;  27,  2. 

7.  On  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem:  Bab.  Tal.  Gittin,  Hannis- 
akin,  fol.  56,  a. 

3.  ToLEDOTH  jESHuf  (i.  c.,  History  or  Generation  of  Jesus)  is  a  rabbinical 

work  of  very  ancient  but  unknown  date.  It  is  understood  to  have 
been  taken  from  the  Talmud,  and  was  expressly  written  against 
Christ  and  Christianity.  It  purports  to  give  an  account  from  the 
Jews'  standpoint  of  the  birth,  character,  and  the  death  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.     Some  years  ago  an  English  translation  was  made  of 

*  See  general  description  of  this  work  before  cliapter  1,  pp.  1  and  2. 
iW^  nnSn    The  W  Is  a  contraction  of  i;_W';,  originally,  j;tyin,  Joshua= 
Jesus. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  45 

this  work  in  two  volumes  in  England,  under  the  title  The  Gospel 
According  to  the  Jews.  It  contains  some  vile  and  wretched  stories 
which  the  Jews  put  in  circulation  soon  after  the  crucifixion,  to 
prevent  a  belief  in  his  resurrection,  a^d  therefore  in  Chris- 
tianity.* This  opprobrious  work  contains  also  important  testi- 
mony relating  to  the  Nativity  of  Jesus,  His  Childhood,  His  Teach- 
ings, His  Miracles,  His  Royalty,  His  Passion  and  Death,  His  Burial, 
and  His  Twelve  Disciples.  The  work  is  bitter  in  spirit  and  is 
obviously  based  upon  the  Jewish  Talmud.  For  citations  of  this 
work  see  Excursus  G,  VII,  at  the  close. 

4.  Okigen  of  Alexandria  (b.  185  A.  D.,  d.  254)  was  celebrated  alike  for 
his  genius,  his  scholarship,  and  his  extraordinary  influence  over 
men.  His  father  was  named  Leonidas,  and  was  a  rhetorician  of 
high  standing,  who  helped  to  educate  Origen.  He  pursued  his 
studies  in  the  Catechetical  School  under  the  famous  Clement  of 
Alexandria.  At  eighteen,  Origen  became  the  head  and  successor 
of  Clement,  who  fled  from  persecution  to  Palestine.  He  dili- 
gently studied  philosophy  under  the  chief  masters  of  the  several 
schools,  and  the  different  heresies  which  sprang  up  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  He  also  traveled  extensively  in  Arabia,  Palestine, 
Greece,  and  Italy.  He  attained  to  eminence  so  rapidly  that  the 
principal  men  from  abroad  sought  his  counsel  in  many  respects. 
Both  heathen  and  heretics  of  much  distinction  were  won  over  to 
Christianity  in  its  true  faith.  A  Gnostic  of  wealth  named  Am- 
brosius  became  his  liberal  patron,  and  supplied  him  with  an  in- 
valuable library  and  with  a  corps  of  stenographers  to  report  his 
daily  lectures,  and  another  corps  of  copyists  to  engross  the  work. 
An  Arabian  prince  visited  Origen  to  learn  from  him  the  myste- 
rious power  of  his  life  and  religion.  Julia  Mammsea,  the  mother 
of  Alexander  Severus  (who  reigned  A.  D.  222-235)  induced  him  to 
come  to  Antioch  in  Syria,  that  she  might  learn  the  character  of 
his  new  and  strange  doctrines. 

However,  Bishop  Demetrius,  who  had  nominated  Origen  for 
the  headship  of  the  Theological  School  at  Alexandria,  in  which  he 
had  served  with  conspicuous  ability  and  success,  partly  from 
motives  of  envy,  but  ostensibly  on  the  ground  of  false  doctrines 
according  to  the  bishop's  view,  used  all  the  influence  of  his  office 
and  person  to  have  Origen  excommunicated  from  the  Church  in 
Egypt.  But  this  was  utterly  without  justification.  The  Church 
in  Arabia,  in  Palestine,  in  Achaia  and  Phoenicia,  refused  to  con- 
cur in  that  decision.  Thereupon  Origen  manfully  resigned  his 
charge  and  position  in  the  school  as  its  principal,  and,  leaving 
the  country,  went  to  his  former  teacher  and  patron  in  Palestine — 


*  See  Justin  Martyr's  Dialogue  ivith  the  Jew  Trypho,  c.  xvii,  and  cvlii  In  the 
Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  I,  pp.  303,  253. 


46  Historical  Evidenck  of  the  New  Testament. 

to  Clement.  Under  his  counsel  and  direction,  Origen  opened  and 
organized  another  school  in  Csesarea,  which  soon  became  even 
more  famous  than  the  one  he  had  left  in  Alexandria.  A  former 
pupil  of  Origen,  named  Dionysius,  soon  became  Bishop  of  Alex- 
andi'ia,  and  was  careful  to  invite  Origen  to  i*eturn.  He  did  so ; 
but  the  Decian  persecution  having  set  in,  Origen  was  arrested, 
imprisoned,  and  was  subjected  to  torture  by  the  Roman  Govern- 
ment for  his  faith,  and  was  condemned  to  die  as  a  martyr.  The 
death  of  the  Emperor  Decius  (251)  effected  his  release.  But  hav- 
ing been  loaded  with  a  heavy  chain,  his  constitution  broken  by 
tortm-e,  and  his  body  maimed,  he  died  soon  after  in  the  sixty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age. 

Jerome  (A.  D.  331-420)  regarded  Origen  as  the  greatest  Doctor 
who  had  risen  in  the  Church  since  the  apostles.  His  learning 
embraced  all  parts  and  departments  of  learning,  philology,  phi- 
losophy, and  theology.  With  such  a  powerful  memory  he  com- 
bined remarkable  penetration  and  wide  comprehensiveness  of 
intellect,  with  a  glowing  iinagination  and  power  of  expression. 
His  commentaries  are  a  wealth  of  learning  and  suggestiveness. 
His  famous  refutation  of  the  literary  champion  of  opposition, 
named  Celsus,  in  eight  books,  is  a  masterpiece.  It  is  entitled 
Origen  contra  Celsum,  and  may  be  found  translated  in  the  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  IV. 

5.  Ignatius  (d.  107)  assumed  the  name  Theophorus,  ^'Bearer  of  God," 
having  reference  to  the  indwelling  Christ.  He  has  been  called 
the  "latest  and  greatest  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers."  He  was 
elected  Bishop  of  Antioch,  Syria,  about  seventy-four  years  after 
Christ's  ascension.  Eusebius  and  Jerome  place  him  as  the  second 
bishop  after  Peter,  Euodius  being  the  first.  Roman  traditions 
represent  him  variously  as  the  disciple  of  Paul,  of  Peter,  and  of 
the  apostle  John.  He  was  certainly  the  contemporary  of  the 
apostles,  and  Chrysostom  is  careful  to  say  that  Ignatius  "  con- 
versed familiarly  with  them,  and  was  perfectly  familiar  with  their 
doctrines,"  and  apostolic  hands  were  laid  on  his  head  when  Ignatius 
was  consecrated  to  the  episcopate.  There  is  withal  a  pleasing  but 
unhistorical  story  that  Ignatius  was  identical  with  the  child  whom 
Jesus  took  up  in  his  arms  and  blessed,  when  he  said,  "Of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."     (Mark  x,  16.) 

Ignatius  having  been  sentenced  to  death  for  the  crime  of 
being  a  Christian,  he  was  hurried  off  to  Rome,  where  lie  was  cast 
into  the  Coliseum  to  the  wild  beasts.  A  prisoner  in  chains  on 
the  way  thitlier  afoot,  he  was  subjected  to  much  rudeness  and 
insult  of  the  guard  who  conducted  him  to  the  capital.  At  Smyrna 
he  met  Polycarp,  a  fellow  bishop,  and  he  addressed  his  several 
letters  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Magnesians,  the  Tralliaiis,  and  the 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  47 

Romans.  At  Troas  there  was  a  brief  halt  in  the  journey,  where 
he  wrote  three  additional  epistles  to  the  Philadelphians,  to  the 
Smyrneans,  and  a  personal  letter  to  Polycarp.  All  these  are 
extant.  Thence  he  passed  to  Neapolis  through  Macedonia,  and 
thence  across  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  then  over  the  old  Roman 
road  to  Rome.  The  date  of  his  death  is  somewhat  uncertain. 
If  it  occurred  in  A.  D.  107  according  to  the  common  consensus,  it 
was  the  same  year  as  that  in  which  Simeon,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
the  successor  of  James,  our  Lord's  brother,  was  martyi'ed. 

6.  Tertulli.\n  (150-220  or  240)  was  a  Carthaginian  and  an  eminent  apol- 
ogist of  Chi'istianity.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  Carthage,  the 
capital  of  Africa,  the  ancient  rival  of  Rome.  His  father  was  a 
Roman  centurion  in  the  army,  serving  under  the  proconsular 
government.  He  is  supposed  to  have  lived  to  a  good  age  and  died 
a  natural  death ;  but  nothing  is  really  known  on  the  subject. 

Tertullian  was  liberally  educated  in  Grseco-Roman  literature, 
and  was  learned  in  the  law  as  a  jurisconsult.  His  mind  was  well 
stored  with  history,  philosophy,  law,  poetry,  and  eloquence. 
His  writings  bear  evidence  that  he  was  well  skilled  in  juridical 
lore,  and  knew  well  how-to  state  the  claims  of  the  Christians 
in  their  defense  before  the  highest  authorities  of  the  State.  He 
understood  well  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  He  is  called  "  the 
Father  of  Latin  Theology,  and  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  an- 
tiquity." (Schaflf.)  The  late  M.  Ernest  Renan  regarded  Tertul- 
lian as  "  a  literary  phenomenon,"  if  not  indeed  a  prodigy.  His 
translator.  Holmes,  mentions  his  style  as  "terse  and  vigorous 
expression  of  terse  and  vigorous  thought."  The  late  Cardinal 
Newman  regarded  him  as  "  the  most  powerful  writer  of  the  early 
centuries."  He  was  a  man  of  profound  convictions  and  fearless 
courage.  Schaff  says:  "For  his  opponents,  be  they  heathen  or 
Jews,  heretics  or  Catholics,  he  has  as  little  indulgence  and  re- 
gard as  Luther.  With  the  adroitness  of  a  special  pleader,  he 
entangles  them  in  self-contradictions,  pursues  them  in  every  nook 
and  corner,  overwhelms  them  with  arguments,, sophisms,  apo- 
thegms, and  sarcasms,  drives  them  before  him  with  unmerciful 
lashings,  and  almost  makes  them  ridiculous  and  contemptible. 
His  polemics  everywhere  leave  the  marks  of  blood."  {Church 
Hist.,  II,  819,  823,  824.) 

He  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Septimus  Severus  (193-211),  and 
possibly  in  a  part  of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Caracalla  (211-217). 
His  Apology  was  a  masterpiece,  unexcelled  in  any  literature. 
It  was  probably  addressed,  not  to  the  emperor  and  Senate  at 
Rome,  but  to  the  proconsul  and  chief  magistrates  of  the  African 
local  government.  For  it  is  said  that  when  the  emperor  visited 
Carthage  and  learned  the  facts  of  the  Christian  history  under 
4 


48  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

persecutions,  he  disavowed  the  persecutions  and  offered  a  public 
apology  for  the  inflictions  of  Plantinus,  an  unprincipled  magis- 
trate.    (Coffin's  Ch.  Fathers,  p.  264.) 

THE   MODERN   CRITICS. 

7.  TisoHENDORF  (1815-1874)  was  born  in  Lengenfeld,  in  Saxony,  and  was 

a  student  under  the  famous  Hermann  and  Winer  in  the  University 
of  Leipsic.  He  was  the  receipient  of  a  medal  and  many  prizes  in 
course.  In  1837  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  was  conferred 
upon  him.  In  1839-1841  he  prepared  a  critical  edition  of  the 
Greek  New  Testament ;  in  1840  he  succeeded  in  doing  what  no 
man  had  ever  done  previously,  cleaned  a  palimpsest  manuscript 
by  means  of  chemicals  in  Paris,  restoring  the  original  writing  to 
distinctness.  He  did  this  in  the  case  of  the  Codex  Ephraem  Re- 
scriptus  of  the  fifth  century.  As  a  recognition  of  his  eminent 
abilities  the  University  of  Breslau  thereupon  bestowed  upon  him 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Theology.  He  visited  the 
great  libraries  of  Holland  in  1841,  and  in  1842  those  of  England 
at  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  and  spent  more  than  1843  in  Italy. 
During  the  next  year  he  repeated  his  visit  to  the  East,  spending 
ten  months  in  Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Sinai,  and  returned  to  Vienna 
and  Munich.  In  1853  he  returned  to  these  countries,  visiting 
Sinai  in  1859,  when  he  discovered  the  famous  Codex  Sinaiticus, 
which  he  published  in  1862.  Returning,  he  was  elected  Professor 
of  Paleography  in  the  University  of  Leipsic,  in  consideration  of 
his  merits.  Broken  down  by  overwork,  he  died  of  apoplexy,  on 
December  7,  1874. 

It  has  been  said  of  him  that  no  theologian  before  him  received 
so  many  marks  of  honorary  distinction,  both  academic  and  civil. 
"  He  was  made  a  Russian  noble,  a  Saxon  privy-councilor,  a  knight 
of  many  orders,  a  Doctor  of  all  academic  degrees.  Unquestion- 
ably, Tischendorf  was  the  foremost  scholar  in  paleology  of  the  age 
in  the  New  Testament.  As  a  Biblical  critic  he  was  equaled  by 
few,  and  surpassed  by  none  in  modern  times."  His  critical  works 
number  fourteen. 

8.  Brooke  Foss  Westcott    (b.   1828,   d.  1901)  was  a  graduate  of  Cam- 

bridge, England,  bearing  away  high  honors,  with  many  medals 
and  prizes  in  both  classics  and  mathematics.  He  was  made  Canon 
of  Peterborough  Cathedral  in  1869,  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity 
at  Cambridge  in  1870,  honorary  Chaplain  to  the  Queen  in  April, 
1875,  and  Bishop  of  Durham,  1890.  His  chief  work  is  his  Canon  of 
the  New  Testament  during  the  first  four  centuries,  5th  ed.,  1861. 
He  was  one  of  the  English  Company  wlio  revised  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    He  had  no  superior  in  his  line  of  work. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  49 

9,  Nathaniel  Lardner  (1684-1768)  was  educated  at  Uti-echt  and  Len- 
den,  Holland.  He  was  a  profound  scholar  and  a  man  of  rare 
judgment,  who  devoted  himself  to  a  work  to  defend  the  Authen- 
ticity and  Credibility  of  the  New  Testament.  Some  regard  it  as 
outranking  Bishop  Butler's  Analogy  in  character  for  thorough- 
ness. Certainly  we  are  indebted  to  no  man  of  his  own  time  or 
since  for  such  prolonged  critical,  exhaustive,  and  judicious  dis- 
cussion of  the  varied  subjects  involved  as  to  Dr.  Lardner.  His 
works  consist  of  ten  volumes  octavo,  London,  1838,  and  constitute 
a  perfect  thesaurus  of  learning  and  critical  care.  In  faith  he  was 
a  Congregational  Arian. 

§23.    The  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  life  of  Jesus  has  become  the  center  of  religious  controversies  which 
agitate  our  age.  The  importance  of  this  fact  is  great.  "With  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christianity  stands  or  falls. — Tischendorf. 

The  mode  in  which  the  different  evangelists  deal  with  the  history  of  the 
incarnation  and  birth  of  our  Lord  offers  a  perfect  illustration  of 
their  independence  and  special  characteristics.  Matthew  and 
Luke  combine  to  reveal  as  much  of  the  great  facts  as  help  us  to 
apprehend  .  .  .  the  mode  in  which  it  was  welcomed  by  those 
by  whom  God  was  pleased  to  work  its   accomplishment. — West- 

COTT. 

Fear  not  to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy  wife,  for  that  which  is  begotten  in 
her  IS  OF  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  she  shall  bring  forth  a  Son,  and 
thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus. — Angel  of  the  Lord. 

The  Word  was  God.  And  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth. — John. 

When  the  fullness  of  time  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  born  of  a 
woman. — Paul. 

'Ei/p-^Kafiev  t6v  Mecrfflav  (o  i<TTiv  fiedeptn)vev6/j.€vov  XpiffTog-).  We  have  found  the 
Messiah,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  Christ. — Andrew. 

ARGUMENT. 

Men's  mere  opinions  have  no  authority  whatsoever  or  evidential  value 
in  historical  investigation.  But  concessions  of  fact  and  truth 
made  by  those  in  opposition  ai*e  invaluable  in  reasoning,  and  pre- 
clude further  argument.  Moreover  the  denial  of  a  supposed  fact, 
of  the  past  to  the  witness,  indicates  a  conviction  on  the  part  of 
the  opposition  which  existed  prior  to  the  denial,  proving  the  his- 
toricity of  the  question  so  far ;  and  the  statement  thereof  logically 


50  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaj^ient. 

must  be  refuted  by  the  denier  on  sound  reasons,  or  the  original 
affirmation  being  of  long  standing  must  be  considered  valid. 

Enemies  of  Christianity  attest  the  actuality  of  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  declaring  the  event  to  be  absolutely  historical.  They  wit- 
ness to  the  belief  of  the  primitive  Christians,  that  Jesus  was  truly 
begotten  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  the 
time  of  Quirinius.  These  testimonies  are  in  exact  accordance  with 
the  statements  of  the  Gospels.  As  already  seen,  Talmudic  litera- 
ture concedes  that  the  time  for  Messiah's  advent  has  long  since 
past,  that  it  has  actually  occurred,  on  a  "  different  principle  of 
generation"  from  humanity,  being  born  of  "the  seed  of  a 
woman,"  but  without  an  earthly  father.  There  is  to  be  added 
now  the  witness  of  enemies  to  the  lineage,  the  tribe,  the  time 
and  place  of  birth  of  the  only  One  who  fulfilled  all  the  predictions 
respecting  the  Messiahship,  and  who  has  impressed  himself  im- 
perishably  upon  the  consciousness  of  mankind  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years  past. 

The  principal  points  now  to  be  considered  are : 

1.  What  the  Gospels  affirm  respecting  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  How  far  Adversaries  confirm  the  Statements  of  the  Evangelists. 

3.  The  Incarnation  a  Subject  not  open  to  Historical  Investigation. 

Before  there  is  anything  to  investigate,  it  must  be  ascer- 
tained precisely  what  the  Gospels  have  affirmed  relative  to 
the  Nativity  of  Jesus.  In  such  inquiry  the  standpoint  of  each 
writer  of  the  four  Gospels  should  be  taken,  and  the  special 
object  had  in  view  by  each  writer  should  be  clearly  seen. 
"What,  then,  are  the  main  facts  stated  therein  to  be  read  and 
believed,  touching  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ? 

THE  GOSPELS. 

Matthew,  being  a  Hebrew,  first  wrote  his  Gospel  in  the 

Hebrew  language  for  the  special  advantage  of  the  Hebrew 

6  24    state-  P^^pl®>  employing  that  line  of  argument  which 

ments  of      would    be    most    persuasive    unto    that    nation. 

His  main  object  was   to  prove  by  citations  from 

prophecy  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  fulfilled  every  Messianic 

prediction  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  therefore  he  was  the 

true  Messiah.     Hence,  in  his  (jtneal(Hj]i  of  our  Lord,  he  traces 

the  royal  descent  from  Abraham  the  progenitor  of  the  Jewish 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  51 

nation  to  prove  that  Jesus  was  a  Jew,  down  through  the  Dor 
vidic  line  of  Icings,  holding  that  he  was  the  King  of  kings, 
and  King  "of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Matthew  affirms 
that  "Jesus  Avas  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judaea,  in  the  days  of 
Herod  the  king,"^  in  fulfillment  of  the  Scripture.  He  then 
proceeds  to  mention  a  number  ef  extraneous  circumstances 
which  group  around  the  Nativity  of  Jesus,  such  as  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  strange  Star,  the  visit  of  the  Wise  Men,  and  the 
slaying  of  the  male  children  by  King  Herod's  order. 

Luke,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  Greek,  and  wrote  his  Gos- 
pel in  the  Greek  language,  in  the  special  interest  of  the 
Greek-speaking  Gentiles,  relating  how  that  Gabriel  had  been 
sent  by  God  from  heaven  "  to  a  virgin  betrothed  to  a  man 
named  Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David,  and  the  virgin's  name 
was  Mary."^  He  notes  those  circumstances  which  led  up  to 
the  birth  of  Jesus,  such  as  the  Roman  census  or  enrollment  of 
the  population  under  the  direction  of  Quirinius,  which  was 
conducted  in  the  strictest  Jewish  method,  which  required  that 
each  household  should  repair  to  its  own  tribal  territory  to  be 
registered.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  Joseph  and  Mary 
came  to  the  territory  of  Judah  and  to  Bethlehem,  their  an- 
cestral village,  for  enrollment.  Thence,  with  the  instincts 
characteristic  of  an  intelligent  physician,  Luke  dwells  more  in 
detail  than  the  other  evangelists  upon  the  physical  aspects  and 
incidents  of  the  event;  viz.,  the  fulfillment  of  Mary's  days, 
the  bringing  forth  of  her  firstborn,  wrapping  the  Child  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  the  circumstance,  due  probably  less  to 
the  actual  poverty  of  the  family  than  to  the  crowded  condi- 
tion of  the  village,  "that  they  laid  him  in  a  manger  he- 
cause  there  was  no  room  for  him  in  the  innP  He  is  also  care- 
ful to  mention  that  these  things  happened  "in  the  days  of 
Herod  the  king  of  Judaea."  ^  As  Luke  wrote  for  the  Gentiles, 
he  neglects  the  Messianic  argument,  which  was  of  special  in- 
terest only  to  the  Jews,  and,  in  his  genealogy  of  Jesus,  traces 

1  Matt,  ii,  1.       2  Luke  1,  26,  27.       s  Luke  1,  5;  Comp.  ii,  1-5. 


52  Historical  E^t;dence  of  the  New  Testament. 

his  natural  descent  from  Adam,  the  progenitor  of  the  whole 
human  race,  cognizing  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  of  all  mankind. 

Mark,  who  bears  a  Roman  name,  and  had  traveled  exten- 
sively in  the  Roman  Empire,  wrote  at  Rome  for  the  special 
advantage  of  the  Romans.  His  Gospel  was  intended  as  a 
report  of  Peter's  sermons  to  those  people,  made  at  their  re- 
quest. He  omits  all  reference  to  the  genealogy  and  birth  of 
Jesus,  the  details  of  which  would  hardly  be  persuasive  or  ap- 
preciated by  Roman  readers.  Accordingly  he  opens  his  Gos- 
pel at  once  by  allusion  to  John  the  Baptist,  and  his  witness  to 
the  activities  of  Christ's  ministry,  w^hose  coming  and  pres- 
ence John  stood  forth  to  proclaim.* 

Then  the  Apostle  John,  "that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved," 
at  a  later  period  wrote  his  Gospel  especially  for  the  indoctrina- 
tion of  the  Christian  Church.  His  object  was  to  supplement 
the  statements  of  the  Synoptists'  Gospels,  supplying  what 
they  had  omitted,  and,  wherever  traversing  the  same  ground, 
adding  fresh  details  to  their  narratives,  yet  preserving,  with 
the  Synoptic  Gospels,  one  central  plan  and  unity  of  purpose. 
John's  Gospel  opens  with  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Word,  devoting  but  a  single  sentence  to  his  birth  and  incarna- 
tion: "And  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  and 
we  beheld  His  glory."  ^ 

The  four  Evangelists  amply  illustrate  that  principle  of 
credibility  which  obtains  in  the  courts:  circumstantial  vari- 
ation in  the  statement  by  witnesses  evidences  their  substan- 
tial agreement  and  truth.  These  several  writers  had  individ- 
uality of  object  in  view  in  writing,  with  unity  of  design;  and 
all  were  adapted  to  mankind  in  every  age,  country,  and  nation, 
having  this  one  common  end,  viz. :  "These  things  are  written 

THAT    YE   MAY   BELIEVE   THAT   JeSUS    IS    THE    ChRIST,    THE    SoN    OF 

God,  and  that,  believing,  ye  may  have  life  in  his  name."® 

«  Mark  i,  2-11.       "  John  1, 14.       6  John  xx,  31. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  53 


CONFIRMATION. 

Attention  may  now  be  drawn  to  the  testimony  of  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  Christian  religion  for  confirmatory  witness 
respecting  the  statements  in  the  Gospels  on  the  g  25.  opinions 
Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  to  be  especially  ^°^  Evidential. 
remarked  that  the  personal  opinions  expressed  by  witnesses 
testifying  are  to  be  disregarded  altogether.  Mere  opinions 
are  not  evidence,  and  can  not  be  substituted  for  evidence.  A 
heathen  Avriter's  belief  does  not  prove  a  Christian  fact,  nor 
does  his  dlshoiiQi  disprove  it.  It  simply  illustrates  his  mental 
attitude  as  a  heathen  toward  Christ  and  Christianity.  It  is  of 
no  worth  whatever  in  critical  investigation.  This  is  not  say- 
ins:,  however,  that  concessions  of  fact  and  truth  in  the  interests 
of  history  are  to  be  set  aside  as  being  worthless  in  evidence. 
Upon  the  contrary,  concessions  made  by  an  enemy  are  of  vital 
and  supreme  importance  in  historical  investigation,  and  con- 
clusive of  any  contention.  Sometimes,  in  opposition  to  Chris- 
tianity, men  have  borne  inadvertent  witness  to  the  truth  by  in- 
direction, and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  contribute  to  and  cor- 
roborate that  which  has  been  affirmed  by  the  Evangelists. 
An  involuntary  testimony  thus  given  comes  with  more  force 
than  when  it  is  voluntary.  Even  the  denial  of  a  certain  oc- 
currence conveys  the  implication  that  it  had  been  affirmed  by 
others  as  true,  who  possibly  were  in  a  better  position  to  know 
the  truth  whereof  they  affirm  than  he  who  denies.  For,  why 
should  denial  be  made  at  all  of  that  which  no  one  had  ever 
claimed  to  be  true,  which  had  no  existence  in  the  conviction 
of  others?  Furthermore,  the  question  affirmed  and  denied,  if 
entitled  to  any  consideration,  related  to  something  supposed 
to  have  existed  in  an  earlier  antiquity  than  when  the  denial 
was  made.  If,  then,  the  adversaries,  in  denying,  fail  to  refute 
the  opposition,  the  validity  of  the  conviction  as  based  on  truth 
on  the  part  of  the  opposition  stands,  and  legitimates  the  in- 
quiry whether  the  conviction  is  not  founded  on  fact.     And  in 


54  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  last  analysis  we  are  led  back  to  inquire  respecting  the  an- 
tiquity and  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  which  founds 
the  Christian  faith  on  the  special  facts  narrated  in  its  con- 
tents. That  is,  the  faith  is  based  on  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom 
we  could  have  no  proper  knowledge  except  from  these  Scrip- 
tures. 

WITNESS  OF  ENEMIES. 

'  Since  God  is  great  and  diflHcult  to  see,  he  put  his  own  Spirit  into 
his  body  that  resembles  ours,  and  sent  it  down  to  us,  that  we  might  be 
S26  Testi-     enabled  to  hear  him,  and  become  acquainted  with  him." 
mony  of        "  If  God  had  wished  to  send  down  his  Spirit  from  himself, 
Celsus.        what  need  was  there  to  breathe  it  into  the  womb  of  a 
woman?"     "And,  again,  on  account  of  Mary's  pregnancy  there  came  an 
Angel  to  the  carpenter"  (i.  e.,  to  Joseph).     "The  framers  of  the  geneal- 
ogies, from  feeling  of  pride,  made  Jesus  to  be  descended  from  the  first 
man,  and  from  the   kings  of  the  Jews.     .     .     .     The  carpenter's  wife 
could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  the  fact,  had  she  been  of  such  illustrious 
descent.'" 

The  testimony  of  the  Emperor  Julian,  coming  as  it  does  at 
a  later  date  (A.  D.  361),  furnishes  a  transitional  point  between 
827  Witness  "the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints"  in  the 
of  juuan.  primitive  Church  succeeding  the  apostles,  and 
that  which  has  through  all  the  centuries  since  held  permanent 
place  in  Christian  thought.  Referring  to  the  nativity  of 
Jesus,  Julian  says : 

o)  "  Jesus  whom  you  celebrate  was  one  of  Cfesar's  subjects.  If  you 
dispute  it,  I  will  prove  it.  ,  .  .  For  yourselves  allow  that  he  was  en- 
rolled with  his  father  and  mother  in  the  time  op  Quirinius.  But  after  he 
was  born,  what  good  did  he  do  to  his  relations  ?  For  it  is  said  that  they 
would  not  believe  on  him."  "  But  Jesus  having  persuaded  a  few  among 
you,  and  those  the  worst  of  men,  has  now  been  celebrated  about  thrrr 
hundred  years,  having  done  nothing  in  his  lifetime  worthy  of  remem- 
brance,'" etc. 

/3)  "For  neither  is  he  of  Judah,  and  how  should  he  be  so  when, 
according  to  you  [Christians],  he  was  not  born  of  Joseph,  but  of  the  Holy 
Ghost?  When  you  reckon  up  the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  you  carry  it  up  to 
Judah;  but  you  have  not  been  able  to  contrive  this  dexterously;  for 
Matthew  and  Luke  have  been  sliown  to  differ  with  one  another  about 
the  genealogy."     "  Let  this  be  said  of  God,  though  it  is  not ;  for  she  was 

1  Origen  contra  Celsum,  Bk.  vi,  69,  73;  v,  62;  11,  32. 
8  Citations  from  Cyril  in  Lard,  vll,  626,  627. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  55 

not  a  virgin.  .  .  .  However,  grant  that  this  also  is  said  of  him :  does 
he  [i.  e.,  the  prophet],  say  that  God  should  be  born  of  a  virgin?  But 
you  are  continually  calling  Mary,  Mother  of  God."® 

The  testimony  of  rabbinical  works  respecting  the  birth  and 
incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to  the  following  effect : 

a)  The  Talmud  says:    "After  the  tvFO  thousand  years  of  the  Law, 
according  to  the  decree,  the  Messiah  ought  to  have  come."     "  The  right 
time  for  Messiah's  advent  is  passed,  and  he  is  now  be-  g28.  The  Wit- 
lieved  to  have  been  born;"   "the  appointed  times  are     ness  of  the 
long   since    passed."      "For    the    Messiah   is   born;    his        Jewish 
name  is  Menachem  [Comforter]."      "Messiah  was  born       Rabbms. 
at  the  royal  residence  of  Bethlehem  of  Judah."     "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
born  in  the  year  three  thousand  of  creation,  under  the  Emperor  Augustus. 
From  this  time  begin  the  years  of  the Nazarene ." '^''    "The  Redeemer  whom 
I  will  raise  up  among  you  shall  not  have  a  father,  according  to  Zacha- 
riah."     "The  birth  of  the  Messiah  alone  shall  not  be  like  that  of  any 
other  creature."     "The  birth  of  Messiah  alone  shall  be  without  defect 
[i.  e.,  sinless]."     "  None  shall  know  his  Father  before  he  tells  it." 

j3)  Toledoth  Jesh  u  concedes :  That  Jesus  was  born  of  royal  lineage,  and 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah ;  that  he  was  the  offspring  of  Joseph  and  Mary ; 
that  he  claimed  to  have  been  born  of  a  virgin ;  that  his  birth  took  place 
in  Bethlehem  of  Jud?ea,  under  the  political  rulers  named  by  the  evangelists. 

Such  is  the  witness  of  the  enemies  of  Jesus  respecting  his 
birth.     The  character  and  position  of  these  writers  lend  the 
greater  weight  to  their  testimony.     Celsus,  the  g  og  ch 
conspicuous  leader  in  the  literary  world  of  those     of  the  wit- 
whose  hostility  led  them  to  assail  Christianity 
and  hold  in  ridicule  the  faith  of  the  Christians,  is  the  first  in 
order.     Julian,  as  emperor  of  the  Roman  world,  commands 
attention  in  that  he  carried  with  him  all  the  dignity  of  his 
ofl&ce  and  the  force  of  his  authority,  based  upon  the  archives 
of  the  government.     The  Kabbins,  who  wrote  the  Jewish  Tal- 
mud, represented  the  greatest  teachers  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
arrayed  in  open  opposition  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  his  cause ; 
and  the  rabbinical  writers  of  Toledoth  Jeshu,  who  based  their 
worli  on  the  Talmud,  purporting  to  give,  from  the  Jewish  side 
of  that  period,  a  History  of  Jesus.     These  authors  are  men  of 

9/6.625,  629,  QeorbKov  5k  vfieig-  ov  irwutade  Mdpiav  KoKoOvre^. 
lOTalmudlc  book  called  Generations. 


56  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

eminence,  whose  writings  reflect  the  manifold  opposition 
which  arose  against  the  Christian  Church  in  those  times. 
Reference  is  made  to  the  expected  Messiahship,  and  to  the 
nativity  of  Jesus.  This  testimony  may  now  be  analyzed, 
and  the  facts  elicited  compared  with  those  contained  in  the 
Gospels. 

A.  As  to  Celsus.  His  witness  relates  to  the  incarnation, 
Joseph's  dream,  and  the  genealogies  of  Matthew  and  Luke. 

a)  Living   about  a  century  after  Christ's   cruci- 

§  30.  Analysis     /  <=  ... 

of  the  Testi-  fixion,  his  testimony  evidences  by  its  opposition 
monies,  y^]^.^\^  ]jad  been  the  settled  faith  of  the  Christian 
Church  from  the  beginning  in  respect  to  the  incarnation  of 
Jesus  Christ.  This  tenet  he  ridicules  in  saying  that  "God 
put  his  Spirit  into  a  body  resembling  ours,  that  we  might 
become  acquainted  with  him ;"  and  then  demands  to  know, 
""What  need  was  there  to  breathe  into  the  womb  of  a 
woman?" 

P)  Celsus  confirms  Matthew's  account  of  the  Angel's  visit 
to  Joseph  in  a  dream  respecting  the  chastity  of  his  betrothed 
Mary  when  he  says :  "And  again  on  account  of  Mary's  preg- 
nancy, there  came  an  Angel  to  the  carpenter."  ^^ 

y)  He  distinctly  employs  i\iQ plural  nuiiiber  when  he  men- 
tions '"Hhe  framers  of  the  genealogies^''  as  differing  in  their 
accounts  of  the  ancestry  of  Joseph — Luke  representing  Christ's 
descent  from  Adam  "the  first  man,"^^  which  was  his  natural 
line  of  descent ;  and  Matthew  "  his  illustrious  descent "  "  from 
the  kings  of  the  Jews."  ^^  This  discrimination  is  entirely  cor- 
rect, and  states  exactly  what  was  the  object  of  each  genealo- 
gist in  his  tracing  Christ's  ancestry  at  all.  Now  it  should  be 
remarked  that  Celsus  must  have  had  at  that  time  in  his  pos- 
session a  copy  of  these  Gospels,  to  have  this  knowledge.  The 
Gospels,  therefore,  were  in  existence  within  a  century  of  the 
crucifixion. 

B.  As  to  JulioM.     His  testimon}^  relates  to  the  enrollment 

»  Matt.  1,  18-21.       w  Luke  111,  23-38.       "  Matt.  1,  1-17. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Cueist.  57 


of  Quirinius,  the  chronology  of  Christ's  birth,  and  to  his  being 
born  of  a  virgin. 

a)  He  affirms  in  a  defiant  tone,  as  that  of  one  who  felt 
entirely  sure  of  his  ground,  that  "Jesus  was  one  of  Csesar's 
subjects."  He  even  challenges  the  denial  of  his  proposition, 
and  oif ers  to  prove  it.  He  then  attests  that  "  Jesus  was  en- 
rolled with  his  father  and  mother  in  the  time  of  Quirinius P'^^ 

ft)  He  dates  the  celebration  (worship?)  of  Christ  by  the 
Christians,  as  "about  three  hundred  years"  before  Julian's 
time.  This  chronological  note  is  of  great  importance  in  de- 
termining "about"  the  time  of  Christ's  nativity,  proving  its 
historicity  in  opposition  to  any  possible  mythical  or  legendary 
theory  of  Christ's  life. 

y)  Julian  also  introduces  the  discussion  in  dispute  of  the 
fact  that  Jesus  was  "born  of  a  virgin ;"^^  and  he  is  indignant 
that  the  early  Christians  about  him  were  "  continually  calling 
Mary,  Mother  of  God." 

C.  As  to  the  Talmud.  The  Rabbins  of  this  work  declare  a 
gradually  increasing  faith  in  Messiah's  birth ;  that  he  ought  to 
ha/ve  been  horn,'  that  the  time  of  his  birth  is  now  long  past; 
that  they  believe  that  his  birth  has  occurred ;  and  finally  they 
affirm  that  it  certainly  did  occur  at  Bethlehem.  They  also 
make  allusions  to  his  incarnation. 

a)  Among  other  averments  respecting  Messiah  they  un- 
hesitatingly declare :  "He  ought  to  have  come,"  "The  right 
time  for  Messiah's  advent  is  passed ;"  "  The  appointed  times 
have  long  since  passed;"  "He  is  believed  to  have  been  born;" 
and  "  Messiah  was  bokn  at  the  royal  residence  of  Bethlehem  of 
Judah."  They  also  testify  that  "Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born 
under  the  Emperor  Augustus,  from,  which  time  begin  the  yea/rs 
of  the  Nazarener 

j8)  Of  the  incarnation  they  assert  that  "The  Redeemer  will 
not  hoAie  a  father;''"'  that  "the  birth  of  the  Messiah  shall  noV'^ 

J<Gr.  Kup^vtof ,  Cyreiilus;  but  in  Latin,  Quirinius,  Luke  il,  1-7. 
»6Isa.  vil,  14;  Matt,  i,  23. 


58  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Test  anient. 

be  like  that  of  other  men;  that  it  "shall  be  without  defect;" 
and  that  "none  shall  know  the  Father  before  he  tells  it." 

D.  The  Toledoth  Jeshu  refers  specifically  to  Christ's  line- 
age, his  tribe,  his  mother  and  her  virginity;  and  mentions 
definitely  the  place  of  his  birth  as  Bethlehem  in  Judah,  and 
cites  the  same  political  rulers  as  are  recorded  in  the  Gospels. 

§31.  Reconflnnation. 

Brief  corroborations  from  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  one  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers;  from  Tertullian,  of  Carthage,  Africa,  one 
of  the  Apologists  or  Defenders  of  the  Faith  before  the  gov- 
ernment; and  from  one  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  suificiently 
represent  Christian  teaching,  and  the  main  points  which  are 
substantiated  by  foregoing  testimonies  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

a)  Witness  of  Ignatius  (110) :  "  Jesus  Christ,  who,  after  the  flesh,  was 
of  David's  race,  who  was  the  Son  of  God."^^  "  He  was  truly  of  the  race 
of  David  according  to  the  flesh,  but  Son  of  God  by  the  Divine  will  and 
power,  truly  born  of  a  virgin."  '" 

/3)  Witness  of  Tertullian  (200):  "For  it  behooves  Him  to  proceed 
from  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  from  Bethlehem."  ^* 

y)  Witness  of  the  Apostle  Paul*  (56-58) :  "  The  Gospel  of  God  .  .  .  con- 
cerning his  Son,  who  was  born  of  the  seed  of  David  according  to  the 
flesh,  who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power,  .  .  .  even  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."  ^^  "  Whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom  is  Christ  as 
concerning  the  flesh,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  forever.  Amen."'** 
"  But  when  the  fullness  of  time  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  born  of  a 
woman,  born  under  the  law."^!  "God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself."  "  "  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  sec- 
ond Man  is  of  heaven."*'^  

A  review  of  these  testimonies  is  now  in  place.   The  witness 

of  Celsus  is  first  in  order.     From  his  mention  of  those  who 

S32  Testimo-  composed  the  "genealogies"  it  is  obvious  that  he 

ny  Examined,  referred  to  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke, 

which  he  must  have  had  in  his  possession,  as  he  could  not 

possibly  have  had  command  of  such  tables  by  sheer  oral  tra- 

^*Ei)is.  to  Ephcsians,  c.20.       is^Iris.  to  Jews,  c.18.      ^Ib.  Ix,  5.         "2  Cor.  v,  19. 
" Ep.  to  Smyrneans,  c.  1.         "Bom.  1,1-4.  «Gal.  Iv,  4.       «»1  Cor.xv,  47. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  59 

dition.  It  may  here  be  remarked  in  general,  as  will  hereafter 
appear,  that  Celsus  makes  numerous  references  to  facts  and 
occurrences,  as  well  as  many  citations  from  both  the  Gospels 
and  Epistles,  with  such  exactness  that  it  compels  the  belief 
that  he  was  in  possession  of  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  at 
that  time ;  accordingly,  it  is  evident  that  these  Scriptures  must 
have  been  published  a  very  considerable  time  before,  that  they 
should  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  enemies  at  such  an  early 
period. 

Celsus  is  clearly  right  in  perceiving  that  Matthew's  gene- 
alogy demonstrated  Christ's  descent  "  from  the  kings  of  the 
Jews,"  while  Luke's  made  Jesus  to  have  descended  "  from  the 
first  man;"  but  he  was  as  clearly  wrong  in  his  inference  that 
the  difference  meant  a  discrepancy  in  the  two  representations 
of  Christ's  ancestry.  The  lineage  traced  by  Luke  is  that  of 
the  race;  the  lineage  traced  by  Matthew  is  that  of  royalty. 
Luke,  therefore,  gives  the  natural  descent  by  parentage  as 
seemingly  taken  from  the  family  registry  of  births  which  each 
house  was  required  to  keep  with  strictness ;  Matthew  notes 
the  actual  succession  of  the  kings  from  the  throne  of  David, 
taken  apparently  from  the  records  preserved  in  the  public 
archives.  If  the  natural  descent  ceased,  as  in  the  case  of 
Jechonias,  the  line  renewed  itself  through  the  nearest  relative, 
who  was  also  a  royal  descendant ;  for  this  was  according  to  the 
express  provision  of  Jewish  law.^  It  is  thus  that  Nathan, 
through  Salathiel  and  Zerubbabel,  appears  in  the  genealogical 
line  of  Joseph.  Now,  Joseph  and  Mary  were  cousins,  and  the 
two  lines  are  as  much  Mary's  as  they  are  Joseph's ;  the  differ- 
ence consisting  not  in  the  fact,  but  in  its  form  of  expression. 
"  Females  are  named  in  genealogies  when  there  is  anything 
remarkable  about  them,  or  when  any  right  or  property  is 
transmitted  through  them."  * 


*  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  "  Gtenealogy,"  and  "  Gtonealogy  of  Jeffos." 
»*Num.  xxvil,  8-11. 


60  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  respect  to  "the  wedded  maid  and  virgin  mother''  of  our 

Lord,  Celsus  admits  without  dispute  the  nativity  of  Jesus  at 

the  accepted  date  as  historical,  that  its  occur- 

§33.  His  Birth  ^  .  ' 

and  incama-  rence  was  in  a  Jewish  village,  and  that  Joseph 
\vas  a  carpenter.  These  concessions,  regarded  by 
him  as  historical,  authenticate  the  narrative  of  the  Gospels. 
That  certain  other  facts  were  claimed  by  Christian  people  as 
related  to  the  birth  of  Jesus,  his  very  contention  demonstrates. 
Now,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  Celsus  sought  to  refute  pos- 
tulates which  had  never  been  claimed,  nor  yet  those  events 
which  occurred  in  times  later  than  his  own.  He  is  content  to 
deny  the  virginity  of  Mary,  but  reflects  in  unwarrantable 
terms  upon  her  character  and  motherhood  without  the  slight- 
est verification  by  facts  or  justification  in  right  reasoning. 
This  is  in  bad  taste  for  one  professing  to  be  a  philosopher.  By 
implication  here,  and  elsewhere  by  direct  assertion,  Celsus 
denies  that  Jesus  was  "  the  Son  of  God  sent  down  from 
heaven."  This,  of  course,  was  intended  as  a  denial  of  the 
Christly  incarnation.  But  his  denial  was  obviously  based 
upon  his  ignorance  of  the  facts  involved ;  for  how  was  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  know  anything  whatever  respecting  Jesus 
being  begotten*  by  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  No  man  has  a  right  to 
make  denial  on  the  ground  of  sheer  ignorance.  The  case  is 
simply  inscrutable  to  human  cognition.  That,  however,  is  no 
bar  to  a  rational  belief.  We  are  constantly  accepting  facts  in 
nature  which  transcend  our  scrutiny.  We  can  not  rationally 
account  for  the  origin  and  unity  of  our  conscience  or  moral 
nature  with  our  thinking  or  intellectual  nature.  And  if  we 
can  not  explain  the  genesis  and  organization  of  our  own  men- 
tal constitution  so  as  to  render  it  intelligible  to  another,  clearly 
we  are  debarred  from  demanding  an  explanation  of  the  origin 
and  conditions  involved  in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ. 


*  Tevvdu,  applied  to  men,  means  to  beget;  to  women,  to  give  birth  to.    See  Matt. 
1, 2, 16;  Luke  1, 13,  57,  etc. 


Nativity  of  Jesus  Chkist.  61 

We  can  not  rationally  account  for  the  fact  that  the  acorn  ger- 
minates and  grows  into  an  oak ;  but  we  know  it  to  be  a  fact. 
We  do  not  have  to  believe  hoio  the  grass  grows,  but  we  believe 
that  it  grows.  No  man  can  offer  an  explanation  as  to  the  gen- 
esis and  unity  into  which  our  spirit  and  body  enter  before 
birth,  and  afterward  are  held  in  a  continuous  organization  of 
life ;  but  that  does  not  disprove  that  we  now  exist.  In  any  strict 
sense,  the  incarnation  does  not  lie  within  the  scope  of  histor- 
ical investigation.  In  so  far  as  from  his  sublime  place  and 
power  in  the  world,  to  which  Jesus  Christ  has  been  assigned 
in  history,  and  in  which  he  alone  has  illustrated  the  high 
character  and  claim  of  being  the  God-Majst,  to  that  extent,  but 
no  further,  is  the  incarnation  a  legitimate  subject  for  histor- 
ical study. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  the  following  particulars  should 
be  noted : 

1.  Julian  asserts  and  associates  absolutely  the  enrollment 
of  Quirinius  with  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  affirms 
occurred  "  about  three  hundred  years "  before  his  own  time, 
these  two  circumstances  fix  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era  in  accordance  with  the  accepted  Christian 
chronology. 

2.  Both  Celsus  and  Julian  base  their  arguments  on  the  gen- 
ealogies of  Jesus  as  contained  in  the  first  and  third  Gospels. 
This  evidences  that  the  Gospels  were  written  and  published  a 
considerable  while  before  the  time  of  either.  Neither  knows 
of  any  other  account  than  that  recorded  in  these  Scriptures. 
The  Gospels  known  to  be  spurious,  which  did  not  appear  until 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  are  not  cited  hy  any  adver- 
sary of  Christianity  as  authoritative. 

3.  Both  these  writers  refer  pointedly  to  the  virginity  of 
Mary ;  but,  beyond  expressing  his  personal  opinion  respect- 
ing the  fact,  neither  undertakes  to  refute  it,  nor  aflBrms  that 
the  account  dates  later  than  the  time  of  the  Nativity.    This  at 


62  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaj^ient. 

least  rescues  the  narrative  from  being  a  myth  or  legend  which 
requires  a  long  period  of  time  for  accretions,  and  then  finding 
credence. 

4.  The  Talmud  concedes  that  the  time  for  Messiah's  birth 
is  long  since  past,  but  affirms  that  it  certainly  occurred  at 
Bethlehem ;  alleging,  also,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born  in 
the  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar.  To  an  investigator  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  and  that 
his  birth  is  correctly  ascribed  to  the  time  of  Augustus  as  in  the 
Gospel. 

5.  The  Toledoth  Jeshu  also  designates  Bethlehem  as  the 
place  of  Christ's  birth,  declaring  his  royal  lineage  from  David, 
his  proper  tribe  of  Judah,  and  the  rulers  of  the  country  as  men- 
tioned in  the  Gospels. 

6.  As  reconfirmation,  Ignatius  of  Syria  reiterates  the  Chris- 
tian claim  that  Jesus  w^as  descended  from  David  and  was  born 
of  a  virgin ;  and  Tertullian  attests  the  place  of  his  birth  was 
Bethlehem ;  and,  finally,  Paul  announces  Jesus  as  "  the  seed 
of  David  according  to  the  flesh,"  who  was  declared  to  be  "  the 
Son  of  God  with  power  ...  by  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead." 


CHAPTER  III. 

CIECUMSTANCES  CONCURRENT  WITH  THE 
KATIYITY. 

I.  Joseph's  Flight  into  Egypt. 
II.  Herod's  Massacre  at  Bethlehem. 

III.  Wise  Men  and  the  Star  op  the  East. 

IV.  Herod's  Death  and  an  Eclipse. 

V.  Registration  of  Ctrenius  (Quirinius). 
63 


Chapter  III. 

CIECUMSTAKCES  CONCUERENT  WITH  THE 
NATIVITY. 

§  34.    Sources :  Biographical  Epitomes  of  Witnesses,  and  Literature. 

1.  Justin  Martyk  (110-165),  the  proper  name  of  whom  was  Flavius 
Justin,  the  sui-name  having  reference  to  the  mode  of  his  death. 
Tertullian  was  the  first  to  designate  him  "  Philosopher  and  Martyr." 
(Against  the  Valentinians ,  c.  5.)  He  was  of  Greek  origin  and  educa- 
tion, although  born  in  Shechem,  Central  Palestine.  In  youth  he 
traveled  extensively,  being  in  great  spiritual  unrest,  and  sought 
consolation  in  different  schools  of  Philosophy — the  Stoical  system, 
Peripatetic,  and  the  Platonic — but  neither  of  these  supplied  the 
cravings  of  his  spirit.  One  day,  while  walking  along  the  seaside, 
he  met  a  venerable  man  of  benignant  countenance,  with  whom  he 
had  very  earnest  conversation  about  his  unsatisfied  consciousness. 
The  stranger  counseled  him  to  study  the  Hebrew  prophets.  He 
did  so,  continuing  his  investigations  in  the  Gospels  as  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  prophecy.  He  became  converted  before  the  year  133. 
Thenceforth  he  devoted  himself  to  the  diligent  study  and  teaching 
of  Christian  doctrines.  He  acquired  gi*eat  scholarship  in  the 
Scriptures,  but  continued  to  wear  his  philosopher's  garb  to  indicate 
that  now  he  had  become  possessor  of  the  true  philosophy  of  life. 

"  Justin  forms  the  transition  from  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  prop- 
erly so  called."  (Schaff.)  Eusebius  remarks  of  Justin:  "A 
genuine  lover  of  true  philosophy,  in  the  gown  of  a  philosopher,  he 
proclaimed  the  Divine  Word  and  defended  the  faith  by  his 
writings."  (B.  iv,  c.  11.)  Much  is  said  of  his  genius,  learning  and 
faithfulness  in  his  Christian  activities,  for  he  was  an  evangelist 
missionary.  "  He  lived  at  a  time  when  the  profession  of  Christ 
was  a  crime  under  the  Roman  law  against  secret  societies  and  pro- 
hibited religions."  (Schaff.)  Justin  stood  with  fearless  courage 
for  the  cause  of  truth  when  it  was  most  fiercely  assailed  by 
violence,  and  finally  attested  his  faith  as  a  confessor  and  martyr 
for  Christ.  The  testimony  of  Eusebius  and  most  credible  histo- 
rians renders  it  nearly  certain  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  in  the 
reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  reigned  161-180.  The  Chronicon 
Paschale  gives  as  the  date  of  his  death  A.  D.  165.  (Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  1, 160.)  He  was  first  scourged,  and  then  beheaded,  under 
the  order  of  Rusticus,  the  prefect  of  Rome. 

65 


66  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

The  principal  works  of  Justin  are  his  two  Apologies,  addressed 
to  the  emperors  and  the  Roman  Senate,  and  his  famous  Dialogue 
with  Trypho  the  Jew  whom  Justin  sought  to  convert  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  "  Eusebius  mentions  two  Apologies  ;  one  written  in  the 
reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  the  other  in  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius."     {Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  I,  161,  Am.  ed.) 

2.  IREN.EUS  (120-202)  was  probably  born  at  Smyrna,  Asia  Minor.     He  was 

a  disciple  of  Polycarp,  and  the  **  spii'it  of  his  preceptor  passed  over 
him."  His  philosophical  genius,  practical  common  sense,  and  his 
Greek  learning  combined  to  make  him  a  remarkable  man  in  the 
early  Churcli.  He  was  almost  within  touch  of  the  Fountainhead 
of  Christianity,  through  his  teacher  Polycarp,  and  his  grand 
teacher  the  apostle  John.  He  was  both  the  leading  repi'esentative 
and  champion  of  orthodoxy  in  the  Churcli  of  his  day,  as  well 
as  the  mediator  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches. 
Irenfeus  succeeded  to  the  episcopacy  at  Lyons,  France,  after  the 
defeat  of  Ponthinius  in  A.  D.  178.  He  disappears  from  sight  about 
190,  but  whether  he  died  a  natural  death  is  now  unknown.  A  very 
remarkable  fact  is,  that  he  alludes  to  or  cites  every  writing  of  the 
evangelists  and  apostles  except  Philemon,  and  the  third  Epistle  of 
John.  He  wrote  Against  Heresies,  some  fragments  of  which 
remain. 

3.  Alfred  Edersheim,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  the  learned  author  of   the 

Life  and  Time  of  Jesus  the  Messiah  (2  vols.,  2d  ed.,  Oxford,  1884)  ;  and 
Prophecy  and  History  in  Relation  to  the  Messiah  (New  York,  1885). 
The  writer  is  said  to  have  been  thoroughly  educated  in  all  Tal- 
mudic  literature  for  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  but  became  a  Christian  and  a 
specialist  on  the  subjects  cited.  His  eminence  makes  him  an 
authority  on  the  line  of  Messianic  argument. 

g  35.    Accompaniments  of  the  Nativity. 

And  tlie  Gentiles  shall  come  to  thy  Light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of 
thy  rising.  The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover  thee,  and  the 
dromedaries  of  Midian  and  Ephah ;  all  they  from  Sheba  shall 
come  ;  they  shall  bring  gold  and  incense,  and  they  shall  show  forth 
the  praises  of  the  Lord.— Isaiah. 

I  shall  see  him,  but  not  now ;  I  shall  behold  him,  but  not  nigh.  There 
shall  come  a  Star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Scepter  shall  arise  out  of 
Israel. — Balaam. 

Messiah  himself  shall  appear  in  the  north,  and  his  advent  will  be  marked 
by  a  star.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born  under  the  Emperor  Augus- 
tus.    From  this  time  begin  the  years  of  the  Nazarene. — Talmud. 

Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  for  we  saw  his  star  in  the 
east,  and  are  come  to  worship  him. — The  Magi. 


Circumstances  Concurrent  with  the  Nativity.  67 

If  he  be  not  the  Messiah,  there  has  been  at  least  none  other  before  or 
after  him.  If  he  be  not  the  Messiah,  the  world  has  not,  and  never 
can  have,  a  Messiah. — Edeksheim. 

ARGUMENT. 

Ten  notable  facts,  each  an  occurrence  of  historical  Interest  in  itself, 
concenter  in  the  birth  and  infancy  of  "  the  Holy  Child  Jesus."  It 
is  a  significant  circumstance  that  the  case  of  Christ  has  no  parallel 
in  history.  The  angelic  admonition  respecting  Mary,  the  flight 
and  return  of  the  family,  the  star  of  the  east  which  awakened 
such  profound  interest  in  distant  peoples,  the  visit  of  the  Wise 
Men  to  the  infant  Jesus,  the  gifts  and  worship  of  the  Magi,  the 
massacre  of  the  male  children  at  Bethlehem,  the  motive  of  King 
Herod  in  this  slaughter,  the  timely  death  of  this  infamous  ruler, 
— are  not  a  meaningless  record  of  the  sacred  text.  All  these  and 
other  particulars  are  narrated  by  but  one  Evangelist.  Neverthe- 
less, every  circumstance  finds  ample  confirmation  in  profane 
writings:  traditional,  rabbinical,  heathen,  patristic,  and  apostolic. 
To  these  concurrent  circumstances  of  the  Nativity  there  re- 
mains to  be  added  the  witness  of  several  writers  of  fame  respect- 
ing the  time  and  place  of  its  occurrence,  with  special  reference  to 
the  first  enrollment  or  census  of  population  made  under  Quirinius 
at  Bethlehem,  which  fixes  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era. 
This  is  attested  by  the  imperial  Julian,  by  Christian  apologists, 
by  the  testimony  of  two  Romans  of  great  distinction,  and  by 
monumental  testimony  and  inscriptions  at  Rome.  These  sources 
of  early  literature  legitimate  the  induction  that  the  narratives  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  are  both  ancient  and  authentic. 

1.  A  Group  of  Concurrent  Circumstances  connected  with  the  Birth  of 

Jesus. 

2.  An  Astronomical  Argument  based  on  the  Moon's  Eclipse  at  Herod's 

Death. 

3.  An  Argument  from  Science  founded  on  the  Conjunction  of  Several 

Planets. 

4.  The  Chronology  and  Locality  of  Christ's  Birth  as  related  to  Quirinius. 

JOSEPH'S  FAMILY  AND  EGYPT. 

Circumstances    of    an    interesting    character    gse.  Joseph 
group  about  the  Nativity  of  Jesus.     Each  histor-    ^^^  Family, 
ical   fact   has   a  significant   bearing   upon  the  central  event. 
Matthew  narrates  these  particulars : 

"  Behold  an  angel  of  the  Lord  appeareth  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  say- 
ing. Arise  and  take  the  young  Child  and  his  mother  and  flee  into  Egypt, 
and  be  thou  there  until  I  tell  thee ;  for  Herod  will  seek  the  young  Child 


68  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

to  destroy  him.  .  .  .  But  when  Hei'od  was  dead,  behold  an  angel  of 
the  Lord  appeareth  in  a  dream  to  Joseph  in  Egypt  saying,  Arise  and  take 
the  young  Child  and  his  mother  and  go  into  the  land  of  Israel,  for  they 
are  dead  that  sought  the  young  Child's  life.  And  he  arose  and  took  the 
young  Child  and  his  mother  and  came  into  the  land  of  Israel."  ^ 

CONFIRMATION. 

Celsus  admits  three  main  facts  respecting  Jesus,  the  Jlighf, 
stay  in,  and  the  return  from  Egypt,  besides  the  offices  of  the 
angel ;  but  his  reference  to  Mary's  condition  as  the  occasion 
for  fleeing,  and  the  assumption  that  Jesus  remained  in  Egypt 
until  grown  up,  and  hired  out  as  a  servant  because  of  poverty, 
are  as  unhistorical  as  they  are  gratuitous.     He  says: 

"And  again  on  account  of  the  pregnancy  of  Mary,  there  came  an  angel 
to  the  carpenter,  and  once  more  an  angel,  in  order  that  they  might  take 
up  the  young  Child  and  flee  away"^  [into  Egypt].  "What  need  was 
there  that  you,  while  still  an  infant,  should  be  conveyed  into  Egypt? 
Was  it  to  escape  being  murdered?  But,  then,  it  was  not  likely  that  God 
should  be  afraid  of  deatli:  and  yet  an  angel  came  down  from  lieaven 
commanding  you  and  your  friends  to  flee,  lest  you  should  be  captured, 
and  be  put  to  death.  And  was  not  the  great  God  who  had  already  sent 
two  angels  on  your  account,  able  to  keep  you,  his  only  Son,  in  safety?'" 
"  Having  hired  himself  out  as  a  servant  in  Egypt  on  account  of  his  pov- 
erty, and  having  there  acquired  some  miraculous  powers  on  which  the 
Egyptians  pride  themselves,  he  returned  to  his  own  country,  elated  on 
account  of  them,  and  by  means  of  these  proclaimed  himself  a  God."  * 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  BETHLEHEM. 

§37.  Slaying  Respecting  the  massacre  of  the  children  of 
of  the  Infants.  Bethlehem,  the  first  Gospel  contains  the  record 
of  the  fact  which  occasioned  the  flight  of  Joseph  and  his 
family  into  Egypt: 

"  Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  mocked  of  the  Wise  Men, 
was  exceeding  wroth,  and  sent  forth  and  slew  all  the  male  children  that 
there  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the  borders  thereof,  from  two 
years  old  and  under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  carefully 
learned  of  the  Wise  Men."  ^ 


>  Matt.  11, 13, 19,  20,  21.       «  Origen  contra  Celsum,  V.  52.       s  lb.  I,  66.       « lb.  1, 28. 
»  Matt.  11, 16. 


Circumstances  Concukrent  avith  the  Nativity.  69 

a)  Celsus  says : 

"  Chaldseans  are  spoken  of  by  Jesus  as  having  been  induced  to  come 
to  him  at  his  birth  and  to  worship  him  as  a  God  while  yet  an  infant ;  and 
to  have  made  this  known  to  Herod  the  tetrarch  ;  and  that  the  latter  sent 
and  slew  all  the  infants  that  had  been  born  about  the  same  time,  thinking 
that  in  this  way  he  would  insure  his  death  among  the  others ;  and  that 
he  was  led  to  do  this  through  fear  that,  if  Jesus  lived  to  sufficient  age, 
he  would  obtain  the  throne."*  "  But  if  this  was  done  in  order  that  you 
might  not  reign  in  his  stead,  when  you  had  grown  up  to  man's  estate, 
why,  after  you  did  reach  that  estate,  do  you  not  become  a  king,  instead 
of  you  the  Son  of  God,  wandering  about  in  so  mean  a  condition,  hiding 
yourself  through  fear,  and  leading  a  miserable  life  up  and  down  ?"® 

(3)  Macrobius,  a  rhetorician  (A.  D.  110),  records  a  joke 
perpetrated  by  the  Emperor  Augustus  upon  receiving  infor- 
mation, at  the  same  time,  that  Herod  had  slain  his  own  son, 
Antipater,  near  the  same  time  that  he  slew  the  children  of 
Bethlehem : 

"  When  he  heard  that,  among  the  male  children  within  two  years  of 
age  which  Herod  the  king  of  the  Jews  commanded  to  be  slain  in  Syria, 
his  own  son  had  been  killed,  he  said:  'It  is  better  to  be  Herod's  hog  than 
to  be  his  son.'"  ^ 

y)  The  Toledoih  Jeshu  says : 

"And  the  king  [Herod  the  Great]  gave  orders  for  putting  to  death 
every  infant  to  be  found  in  Bethlehem,  and  the  king's  messengers  killed 
every  infant  according  to  the  royal  order." 


*It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  this  vrork  on  Historical  Evidences  to  under- 
take to  refute  the  adversaries  of  Christianity  so  much  as  to  gather  concessions 
and  facts  from  their  writings  to  substantiate  the  statements  in  the  historical  New 
Testament.  Nevertheless,  the  utterly  uncritical  character  of  Celsus,  in  these 
criticisms  and  strictures  upon  these  Sacred  Writings,  should  not  go  wholly  unex- 
posed. This  champion  of  literary  opposition  to  Christ  and  Christianity  has  here 
compacted  into  a  single  sentence  no  less  than  four  gross  misstatements  in  matters 
of  fact,  professedly  taken  from  the  Gospels  themselves:  1.  Jesus  did  not  say  one 
word  about  the  Wise  Men  coming  to  Christ's  birth,  but  Matthew  makes  a  different 
statement.  2.  The  ChaldiBans  are  not  mentioned  at  all  in  any  of  the  four  Gospels, 
but  the  Magi  {M-dyoi).  3.  There  was  no  '■'■Herod  the  tetrarch  "  in  existence  when  Jesus 
was  born;  it  was  "  Herod  the  king."  4.  The  king  did  not  order  slain  "all  the 
infants  born  about  the  same  time,"  but  all  the  male  infants:  dmXev  iravTa^  to{>^ 
TratSaj-  (Matt.  11,  16). 

*  Or  ig  en  contra  Celsum,  1,58,61.  '"Melius  est  Herodis  porcum  esse  quam 

fllium"  (Saturnalia,  Convivia,  11,4).    Some  suppose  a  play  on  the  words   Cf  sow^ 
and  i^i^r  son.     Of,  however,  is  both  masculine  and  feminine  gender. 


70  Historical  Evidenck  of  the  New  Testament. 

"When  the  royal  power  was  conferred  on  the  Maccabees 
in  the  person  of  Simon,  it  was  with  cm  express  reservation  of  the 
838  Herod's  ^%^^*  of  the  Messiah.''''  But  this  royal  criminal, 
Crimes.  ^ho  had  killed  Ilyrcanus  his  favorite  wife's  grand- 
father, Mariamne  herself,  and  their  two  sons,  Alexander  and 
Aristobulus,  thereby  extinguishing  the  priestly  and  royal 
house  of  the  Asmonean  race  or  the  Maccabees,  the  last  and 
riffhtful  contestants  to  the  throne:  who  did  not  hesitate  to 
destroy  whole  families  supposed  to  be  in  opposition  to  his 
wishes;  who  ordered  all  the  nobles  of  the  land  to  assemble 
when  on  his  death-bed,  then  shut  them  up  in  the  hippodrome^ 
Avith  orders  that,  immediately  after  he  had  died,  these  nobles 
should  be  massacred,  in  order  that  his  own  funeral  might  at  least 
appear  to  be  the  occasion  for  universal  sorrow  instead  of  univer- 
sal joy  and  gladness,  as  he  seems  to  have  consciously  appre- 
hended would  be  deserved  in  his  case, — why  should  it  ever 
have  been  thought  to  be  incredible  that  such  a  royal  wretch 
would  slaughter  a  dozen  children  at  Bethlehem,  if  thereby  he 
might  place  beyond  recall  the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  of 
Israel?  In  his  passionate  jealousy,  Herod  sought  to  destroy 
the  predicted  King  of  the  kingdom.  The  infant  Jesus  occupy- 
ing a  manger  in  a  stable,  is  an  object  of  terror  to  the  ruling 
Herod ! 

As  Lange  justly  remarks: 

"The  Jews  and  priests  were  pleased  that  Simon  should  be  governor 
until  there  should  arise  a  Faithful  Prophet."  Certain  measures  relating 
to  the  temple  were  adopted  temporarily  "  until  there  should  come  a 
Prophet  to  show  them  what  should  be  done."  "  While  the  Asmoneans 
[Maccabees]  enjoyed  the  royal  dignity,  with  the  express  acknowledg- 
ment that  the  scepter  belonged  to  the  coming  Prophet,  Herod  [himself] 
recognized  no  such  expected  Messiah,  or,  rather,  entertained  only  super- 
stitious fears  about  him,  and  cherished  the  desire  of  effecting  his  destruc- 
tion." "  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  same  Herod  who  had  already  extinguished 
the  priestly  and  royal  house  of  the  Maccabees,  by  the  murder  of  the  last  heirs, 
also  attempted  to  destroy  the  true  and  eternal  Royalty  of  the  House  of  David  "  ' 
by  the  same  means. 


8Joseph.^n<.  xvU,  6, 5.      "Commentary  on  Matt.  11  1;  cf.  1  Macc.xlv,  41;  lv,46. 


CiRCUAISTANCES  CONCURRENT  AVITII  THE  NaTIVITY.  71 

THE  WISE  MEN  AND  THE  STAR. 

"The  Star  in  the  East"  was  the  remarkable  sign  given  in 
fulfiUment  of  the  famous  prediction  of  Balaam,  the  Moses  of 
the  Midianites:  '^^  I  shall  see  him,  hut  not  now;  §  so.  The  Magi 
I  shall  behold  Mm,  hut  not  nigh.  There  shall  come  ^^d  the  star. 
a  Star  out  of  Jacoh,  and  a  Scepter  shall  arise  out  of  Israel.  Out 
of  Jacob  shall  He  come  that  shall  have  do?ninion.^^  ^°  Matthew 
is  the  only  Evangelist  who  notes  the  mission  of  the  Magi  who 
had  crossed  streams,  mountains,  and  deserts  guided  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  single  star  to  the  feet  of  the  infant  Jesus.  They  ask 
Herod,  "  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews,  for  we  saw 
his  sta/r  wi  the  east,  and  a/re  come  to  worship  himV  "  Dr.  Philip 
Schaff  remarks : 

"The  Savior  was  not  without  witness  amongst  the  heathen.  '"Wise 
men  from  the  East ' — that  is,  Pei'sian  Magi  of  the  Zend  religion,  in  which 
the  idea  of  a  Zoziosh  or  Redeemer  was  clearly  known— guided  miraculously 
by  a  star  or  meteor  created  for  the  purpose,  came  and  sought  out  the 
Savior  to  pay  him  homage.  .  .  .  We  must  suppose  that  God  saw  good 
to  speak  to  the  Magi  in  their  own  way  ;  they  were  seeking  light  from  the 
study  of  the  stars,  whence  only  physical  light  could  be  found ;  and  he 
guided  them  to  the  Source  of  spiritual  light,  to  the  cradle  of  his  Son,  by 
a  star  made  to  appear  to  them,  and  to  speak  intelligibly  to  them  through 
their  preconceptions."  ^^ 

An  Oriental  writer  relates  the  following  in-    „^ ^. 

o  g4o.  Tradi- 

teresting  tradition  as   having  been  the  address        tionai 

made  by  the  Magi  to  King  Herod  on  the  occasion 

of  their  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and  their  inquiry, "  Where  is  he  that 

is  born  King  of  the  Jews?" 

a)  "A  certain  person  of  great  note  among  us,  in  a  book  which  he 
composed,  warned  us  in  it  mentioning  these  things :  A  child  that  shall 
descend  from  heaven  will  be  born  in  Palestine  whom  the  greatest  part  of 
the  world  shall  serve ;  and  the  sign  of  his  appearance  shall  be  this :  Ye 
shall  see  a  strange  star  which  shall  direct  you  where  he  is ;  when  ye  see 
this,  take  gold,  myrrh,  and  frankincense  and  go  offer  them  to  him  and 
worship  him  ;  and  then  return,  lest  a  greater  calamity  befall  you.  Now 
the  star  has  appeared  to  us,  and  we  have  come  to  perform  what  he  has 
commanded  us."^^ 


10  Num.  xxiv,  17, 19.       "  Matt.  11, 1, 2.        12  Smith's  Bib.nict.,Vol.  II,  p.  1349,  Am.  ed. 
»s  Rabbi  Frey's  Messiah,  138,  citing  Abulyshrag,  Hist.  Dynasty,  p.  70. 


72  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

/8)  The  Nestorians  claim  that  Zoroaster  was  a  disciple  of 

one  of  the  Jewish  Prophets. 

"  The  intercommunication  of  opinions  between  the  Jewish  and  Zoro- 
astrian  religions  throws  great  light  on  the  visit  of  the  Magi  or  Wise  Men 
at  Jerusalem  .  .  .  who  had  come  more  immediately  in  contact  with 
the  Babylonian  Jews.""  "Now  this  Zoroaster  appears  to  have  been  a 
Jew  both  by  birth  and  religion,  and  servant  to  one  of  the  Prophets  of 
Israel,  and  well  versed  in  the  sacred  writings,  and  therefoi-e  may  well  be 
supposed  to  have  learned  all  this  from  the  prophecy  of  Balaam."^* 

The  late  Dr.  Nehemiah  Adams,  in  mentioning  that  the  Nes- 

torians  "are  confident  of  the  truth  of  the  general  belief  that 

Oroomiah  was  the  residence  of  the  renowned  Zoroaster,"  says : 

"As  their  tradition  is  remarkably  corroborated  by  Abulpharagius,  I 
will  quote  his  language:  '  Zeradusht  [Zoroaster],  the  preceptor  of  the 
Magi,  taught  the  Persians  concerning  the  manifestation  of  Christ,  and 
ordered  them  to  bring  gifts  to  him  in  token  of  their  reverence  and  sub- 
mission. He  declared  that  in  the  latter  day  a  pure  virgin  should  conceive, 
and  as  soon  as  the  child  was  born  a  star  would  appear,  blazing  even  at 
noonday  with  undiminished  luster.  You,  my  sons,  exclaimed  the  ven- 
erable seer,  will  perceive  its  rising  before  any  other  nation.  As  soon, 
therefore,  as  you  shall  see  the  star,  follow  it  whithersoever  it  shall  lead 
you.    He  is  the  Almighty  Word  who  created  the  heavens.'  "^^ 

y)  A  Platonic  philosopher  named  Caludius,  who  was  not  a 

Christian,  says: 

"There  is  also  a  venerable  and  sacred  history  which  speaks  of  the 
rising  of  a  certain  unusual  star,  not  foretelling  disease  and  death,  but  the 
descent  of  a  venerable  God,  born  for  the  sake  of  human  conversation 
[i.  e.,  conduct,  life]  and  the  affairs  of  mortals;  which  star  truly,  when 
the  wise  men  of  tlie  Chaldjeans  saw  in  their  journey  by  night,  and  being 
very  expert  in  tlieir  considerations  of  celestial  things,  are  said  to  have 
inquired  after  the  birth  of  the  new  Deity,  and  having  found  the  infant 
Majesty,  to  worship  him  and  pay  their  vows  worthy  of  such  a  God."  " 

WITNESS  OF  ENEMIES, 
a)  Talmud:  "Messiah  himself  shall  appear  in  the  North,  and  his  ad- 
vent will  be  marked  by  a  Star.''^^    "When  Messiah  shall  be  revealed, 
there  shall  rise  up  in  the  East  a  certain  star  flaming  with 
§41.  Rabbinical  gj^  g^^.^^  ^^  colors." !»    "The  star  shall  shine  forth  from 
the  East,  and  this  is  the  star  of  the  Messiah.     It  shall 
shine  forth  from  the  East  for  fifteen  days,  and  if  it  be  prolonged  it  will 

!■*  Milman's  Hist.  Christianity,  I,  114. 

"  R.  Frey's  Messiah,  138,  comp.  Prldeaux'  Connections,  I,  207,  208,  Part  1,  Bk.  Iv. 

u  Friends  of  Christ,  31. 

"Cited  In  Frey's  Messiah,  138,  from  Fabricius's  Bibliotheca  Latin.,  142-146. 

"  Schottgen,  Horce  fJebraiccB  ct  Tahnudica;  538,  581.  '»  Frey's  Messiah,  137. 


ClECUTVISTANCES  CONCURRENT  WITH  THE  NaTIVITY.  73 

be  for  the  good  of  Israel."  2"  "The  King  Messiah  shall  be  revealed  in  the 
land  of  Galilee  ;  and  lo,  a  star  in  the  East  shall  swallow  up  seven  stars  of  the 
North,  and  a  flame  of  red  fire  shall  be  in  the  firmament  for  six  days/'^i 

(3)  Those  Jews  who  are  still  looking  for  the  Messiah  to 
come,  confidently  expect  a  star  to  appear  as  the  sign  of  his 
advent.  It  was  also  so  in  the  early  Christian  centuries;  a  fact 
which  explains  why  that  Messianic  impostor  succeeded  so  well  in 
the  reign  of  Hadrian,*  who  assumed  the  name  Bar-Kokheba — 
i.  e.^  the  son  of  a  star — and  issued  coins  hearing  a  star,  in  allu- 
sion to  Balaam's  prediction.  In  his  open  rebellion  against  the 
Eomans  he  effected  a  large  following  from  the  Jews,  and,  when 
captured,  he  proposed  that  if  the  Romans  should  kill  him  he 
would  prove  his  Messiahship  by  rising  from  the  dead!  The 
Romans  took  him  at  his  word,  and  cut  off  his  head.  As  the 
impostor  did  not  rise  from  the  dead,  the  Jews  in  disgust  named 
him  Bar-Kozibar ;  i.  e.,  the  son  of  a  lie  I  ^ 

Origen,  in  reply  to  Celsus,  says : 

"In  the  next  place  he  [Celsus]  runs  away  to  what  immediately  fol- 
lows the  narrative  of  the  birth  of  Jesus — the  account  of  the  star  and  of  the 
Wise  Men  who  came  from  the  East  to  worship  the  Child." 
"  He  makes  numerous  quotations  from  the  Gospel  accord-    §  42.  Celsus 
ing  to  Matthew,  as  the  star  that  appeared  at  the  birth  of 
Christ."     "I  know  not,  moreover,  why  he  has  passed  by  in  silence  the 
cause  which  led  the  Magi  to  come,  and  why  he  has  not  stated,  according  to 
the  Scriptural  account,  that  it  was  a  star  seen  by  them  in  the  east."^^ 

WITNESS  OF  FRIENDS. 

a)  Irenaeus  refers  to  the  Magi,  their  adoration  §43.  Patristic 
and  their  gifts  to  the  Child,t  and  their  return     Testimony, 
home  by  way  of  the  Assyrians.'^ 

*A.D.  117-138. 

+ "  The  adoration  of  the  Magi  is  a  favorite  part  of  the  picture  of  the  Holy 
Family.  .  .  .  Mary  sits  holding  the  babe  in  her  lap,  and  receiving  the  homage 
of  the  Magi.  ...  In  later  pictures  the  star  is  added."  (Schafl,  Hist.  Christian 
Church,  II,  282,  283.)  The  picture  taken  from  the  Catacombs  is  supposed  to  date  as 
early  as  the  third,  if  not  tlae  second  century.  The  Romanists  claim  that  the  ado- 
ration of  Mary  must  have  antedated  the  picture.  But  what  justification  is  there 
that  Mary  is  the  adored  one  at  all?  The  presence  of  the  mother  with  her  Child  is 
indispensably  natural,  if  not  necessary,  as  otherwise  the  suggestiveness  would 
be  lost.  How  could  the  young  and  dependent  Child  appear  alone?  It  is  clearly 
Intended  to  represent  Matthew's  account  how  that  the  Magi  "  came  into  the  house 
and  saw  the  young  Child  and  his  mother,  [and]  thet  fell  down  and  worshiped 
HIM  "—not  the  mother.    (Matt,  ii,  2,  8, 11.) 

2"  Edershelm's  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  1,  212.  21  Frey's  Messiah,  137. 

2»Schafr,  Ch. Hist., I,i02.       i*Orig.cont.  Ceis.,  1,40,34,58.        ^* Heresies,  B.  iii,c.l6,i. 


74  Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

/?)  Justin  Martyr  mentions  the  Magi  coming  from  Herod; 
also  the  star  in  the  heavens,  and,  learning  from  the  Jewish 
elders  where  Christ  should  be  born,  they  "  came  to  Bethlehem 
and  worshiped  the  Child,  and  presented  him  with  gold,  frank- 
incense, and  myrrh,  and  then  returned  not  to  Herod."  ^ 

y)  Tertullian  refers  to  the  Magi  as  astrologers  from  the 
East ;  that  "  the  interpreters  of  the  stars  were  the  first  to  an- 
nounce Christ's  birth,  the  first  to  offer  him  gifts,  .  .  . 
frankincense,  and  myrrh,  and  gold,  .  .  .  the  close  of 
worldly  sacrifice,  and  the  glory  which  Christ  was  about  to  do 
away."  He  also  mentions  that  the  Magi  returned  home  by 
another  way.^ 

ARGUMENTS  FROM  SCIENCE. 

a)  There  is  much  force,  if  not  absolute  conclusiveness  in 
verification  of  Matthew's  account  of  the  wonderful  star,  in 
S  44.  Tradition  the  modem  discovery  of  astronomy.  It  is  to  be 
and  Science,  noted  that  the  learned  Jewish  Kabbi,  named  Ar- 
harbanel  {or,  properly,  Abrabcmel),  in  his  Commentary  on 
Daniel  entitled  Wells  of  Salvation,  published  in  1547,  men- 
tions the  tradition  of  the  Jews  that  there  was  a  conspicuous 
conjunction  of  planets  which  occurred  three  years  before  the 
birth  of  Moses,  in  the  sign  Pisces;  and  that  another  conjunc- 
tion would  occur  before  the  Messiah's  birth.  As  this  did  hap- 
pen in  A.  D.  1463,  when  Abrabanel  was  living,  he  was  confi- 
dent that  the  circumstances  indicated  the  near  approach  of 
Messiah's  advent,  so  that  he  requested  the  astronomers  to  in- 
vestigate this  subject.  "Ideler  and  Wieseler  conjecture  that 
this  astronomical  belief  existed  among  the  Jews  already  at 
the  time  of  Christ."  ^^ 

P)  Abrabanel's  publication  of  the  Jewish  tradition   was 

-  ^^^y  years  prior  to  the  discovery  of  the  great 

omers*  conciu- Kepler,  published   in   1606-1614,  which  was  a 

conjunction  of  the  planets  Jupiter  and   Saturn, 

with  Mars  added  later,  and  occurred  repeatedly  in  A.  U.  747 

» Dialogue  with  Trypho,  78.       » Idolatries  c,  Ix.       "  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  1, 115,  n.  2. 


Circumstances  Concurrext  with  the  Xativity.  75 

and  748,  in  the  sign  Pisces.  Kepler's  calculation  has  been 
corroborated  by  several  eminent  astronomers  in  independent 
investigations — including  Schubert's  of  Petersburg,  Charles 
Pritchard's  of  London,  honorable  secretary  of  the  Koyal  As- 
tronomical Society,  and  Ideler's  and  Encke's  of  Berlin. 
Pritchard  affirms  the  fact  of  the  conjunction  to  be  "  as  certain 
as  any  astronomical  phenomenon  of  ancient  date;"^  Ideler  in- 
sists that  "  the  star  of  astrology  has  become  the  torch  of  chro- 
nology." ^  Schaff  adds :  "  It  certainly  makes  the  pilgrimage 
of  the  Magi  to  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem  more  intelligible."  * 
Pritchard  says: 

"  To  complete  the  fascination  of  the  tale,  about  an  hour  and  a  half 
after  sunset  the  two  planets  [Jupitei*  and  Saturn]  might  be  seen  from 
Jerusalem,  hanging  as  it  were  in  the  meridian,  and  suspended  over 
Bethlehem  in  the  distance.  These  celestial  phenomena  thus  described 
are,  it  will  be  seen,  beyond  the  reach  of  question  ;  and  at  first  impres- 
sion they  assuredly  appear  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  Star  of  the 
Magi."  31 

Dr.  Edersheim  states  that — 

"  In  the  astronomical  tables  of  the  Chinese — to  whose  general  trust- 
worthiness so  high  an  authority  as  Humboldt  bears  testimony — the 
appearance  of  an  evanescent  star  was  noted.  Pingr6  and  others  have 
designated  it  as  a  comet,  and  calculated  its  first  appearance  in  February, 
in  750  A.  U.  C,  which  was  just  the  time  when  the  Magi  would,  in  all 
probability,  leave  Jei-usalem,  since  this  must  have  preceded  the  death 
of  Herod,  which  took  place  in  March,  750.  Moreover,  it  has  been  astro- 
nomically ascertained  that  such  a  sidereal  apparition  would  be  visible 
to  those  who  left  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  would  point — seem  almost  to 
go  before — in  the  direction  of,  and  stand  over,  Bethlehem.  Such,  im- 
partially stated,  are  the  facts  of  the  case ;  and  here  the  subject  must, 
in  the  present  state  of  our  information,  be  left."'* 

7)  "  If  we  accept  the  result  of  these  calculations  of  the  astronomers, 
we  are  brought  to  within  two  years  of  the  year  of  the  Na-  s  h  fr 

tivity,   namely,   between  A.   U.   748   (Kepler),    and   750     induction. 
(Wieseler) .    The  difference  arises,  of  course,  from  the  un- 
certainty of  the  time  of  the  departure,  and  the  length  of  the  journey  of 
the  Magi."" 


«See  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  I,  115.         w/6.  I,  116.  ^Ib.  I,  116.  ^Ib.  I,  118, 119. 

w  Jesua  the  Messiah,  I,  213.  «  schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  1, 116. 


76  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


KING  HEROD'S  DEATH. 

It  is  obvious  that  Ilerod  the  Great  was  living  when  Christ 

•was  born,  from  the  circumstance  that  he  sought  "the  young 

§47.  Moon's  Child    to    dcstroj   him."     Exactly    when   King 

Eclipse.  Herod  died  is  astronomically  ascertained,  and 
the  event  occurred,  probably  within  a  few  months  after  the 
N"ativity.  His  death  took  place  just  before  the  time  of  the 
Jewish  Passover,  in  the  city  of  Jericho,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan,  on  the  13th  of  March  A.  U.  750,  or,  according  to  our 
common  chronology,  in  B.  C.  4.  Josephus  has  noted  a  cir- 
cumstance which  affords  a  datum  for  a  scientific  investigation, 
in  saying,  "  That  very  night  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  moonf  ^ 
and  what  renders  the  fact  the  more  conspicuous  is,  that  this  is 
the  only  eclipse  mentioned  by  this  historian.  Now,  if  the 
Star  of  the  East  was  the  product  of  the  conjunction  of  the 
planets  Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Mars  in  A.  U.  748  as  held  by 
Kepler,  then  Jesus  was  born  six  years  before  the  current 
Christian  era ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  star  was  identical 
with  the  comet  of  750,  as  claimed  by  Pingre,  then  Jesus  was 
born  B.  C.  4.  Nevertheless,  Wieseler,  who  is  in  agreement 
with  Kepler  as  to  the  conjunction  of  the  planets,  places  the 
date  of  that  event  at  A,  U.  750,  or  coincident  with  the  year 
in  which  Herod  died,  B.  C.  4 ;  the  discrepancy  between  Kep- 
ler and  Wieseler  being  due  to  the  uncertain  time  when  the 
Magi  started  upon  their  journey,  and  the  length  of  the  route. 
By  all  accounts,  therefore,  Christ  was  crucified,  not  in  A.  D.  33, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  but  in  A.  D.  29. 

In  respect  to  the  era  of  Christianity,  Dr.  Edward  Robinson 
says: 

"The  present  Christian  era  which  was  fixed  by  the  abbot  Dionysius 

Exiguus  in  the  sixth  century,  assumes  the  year  of  the  Christian  era  as 

coincident  with  the  year  754  from  the  building  of  Eome. 

Ghr\  t"a    :^a   ^^^"  ^'"^  begins  in  any  case  more  than  four  years  too  late ; 

i.  e.,  from  four  to  five  years  after  the  actual  birth  of 

Christ.    This  era  was  fii'st  used  in  historical  works  by  the  Venerable 


Mylni.  xvil,  6,  4. 


ClKCUMSTANCES  CoNCURKENT  WITH  THE  NaTIVITY.  77 

Bede  early  in  the  sixth  century,  and  was  not  long  after  introduced  in 
public  transactions  by  the  French  kings,  Pepin  and  Charlemagne."^* 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  monk  Exiguus  invented  the 
Christian  era,  but  he  computed  it.  Considering  the  data  at 
his  command  at  that  time,  his  work  is  as  remarkable  for  its 
difficulty  as  for  its  measure  of  success. 

ENROLLMENTS  UNDER  QUIRINIUS. 

Luke's  statement  furnishes  another  datum  for  „  ,_   „    .  _ 

§49.    Registra- 

determining  the  time  of  Christ's  birth.     In  his  tion  of 

particularizations,  for  which  he  is  so  remarkable,         umnms. 

he  introduces   the   enrollment   of   Quirinius  as  a  concurrent 

event  with  the  E'ativity.     He  says : 

"Now  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  there  went  out  a  decree  from 
Caesar  Augustus  that  all  the  world  should  be  enrolled.  This  was  the 
first  enrollment  made  when  Quirinius^*  was  governor  of  Syria.  And  all 
went  to  enroll  themselves,  every  one  to  his  own  city.  And  Joseph  also 
went  up  from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth,  into  Judsea  to  the 
city  of  David  which  is  called  Bethlehem,  because  he  was  of  the  house 
and  family  of  David,  to  enroll  himself  with  Mary,  who  was  betrothed  to 
him,  being  gi-eat  with  child.  And  it  came  to  pass  while  they  were  there, 
the  days  were  fulfilled  that  she  should  be  delivered ;  and  she  brought 
forth  her  firstborn  son."  ^^ 

In  making  this  historical  statement  respecting  Quirinius, 
as  an  incident  to  that  fact,  the  Evangelist  introduces  the  itin- 
erary of  Joseph  and  Mary  from  ^Nazareth  to  Bethlehem,  and 
the  occasion  which  explains  that  movement.  It  was  precisely 
this  enrollment  and  the  mode  of  its  procedure — a  circumstance 
so  incidentally  mentioned  as  related  to  Christ's  birth  and  so 
significant  in  itself — which  brought  these  persons  from  their 
quiet  homes  in  the  I^orth,  to  their  ancestral  village,  and  into 
the  tribal  territory  of  Judasa,  iyi  exact  circumstantial  fulfill- 
ment of  prophecy^  "in  the  city  where  David  dwelt."  Micah's 
prediction  was: 

"But  thou  Bethlehem  Ephrathah,  which  art  little  to  be  among  the 
thousands  of  Judah,  out  of  thee  shall  One  come  forth  unto  me,  that  is  to  be 
Ruler  in  Israel,  whose  goings  forth  are  from  of  old,  from  everlasting."*^ 

85  Robinson's  Greek  Harmoiiy  of  the  Gospels.  ^  "Cyrenius  "  is  derived  from 

the  Greek  Kvp-qviO(;-,  but  "  Quirinius"  was  his  proper  Roman  name. 
"  Luke's  Gospel,  ii,  1-7.  ^  Micah,  v,  2. 


78  HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

A  census  of  the  population  was  to  be  taken  in  Palestine  as 
in  "all  the  [Roman]  world,"  but  the  Evangelist  nowhere  af- 
firms or  implies  that  the  enrollment  was  to  be  conducted  by 
any  Roman  officer,  much  less  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  Quirinius.  Luke  simply  employs  the  enrollment  to  give  a 
general  historical  date  to  the  Nativity :  "  When  Quirinius  was 
governor  of  Syria."  Quirinius  was  a  man  of  remarkable  ad- 
ministrative and  military  abilities.  He  had  subdued  the 
hardy  mountaineers  of  Cilicia,  and  had  accorded  to  him  the 
honors  of  a  Roman  triumph  as  a  great  general.  Having  now 
been  engaged  so  successfully  in  military  service  in  the  East, 
he  appears  to  have  been  appointed  special  commissioner  to  en- 
roll the  Jewish  nation  as  the  subjects  of  Caesar's  government 
when  Jesus  was  born.  Accordingly,  he  was  known  as  "  Gov- 
ernor of  Syria,"  ^  a  term  employed  to  express  the  title  being 
very  broad,  and  here  understood  in  its  broadest  sense  as  in- 
cluding the  commission  extraordinary,  as  the  legatus  of  Caesar. 
Quirinius  died  in  Rome,  A.  D.  21. 

"W.  M.  Ramsay,  who  is  one  of  the  latest  authorities  on  the 
historical  New  Testament,  observes : 

"  The  decree  of  Augustus  which  Luke  mentions  is  commonly  inter- 
preted as  ordering  that  a  single  census  should  be  held  of  the  whole 
Roman  world.  This  is  not  a  correct  interpretation  of  Luke's  words.  He 
uses  the  present  tense,  and  he  means  that  Augustus  ordered  enrollments 
to  be  regularly  taken,  according  to  the  strict  and  proper  usage  of  the 
present  tense.  What  Augustus  did  was  to  lay  down  the  principle  of  sys- 
tematic enrollment  in  the  Roman  world,  not  to  ari'ange  for  the  taking 
of  one  single  census."*" 

"While,  in  compliance  with  imperial  requirement,  this  was 
to  be  a  Roman  registration,  it  was  to  be  conducted  distinc. 
§50.  Method  tivcly  by  the  Jewish  method.  It  was  a  reserva- 
of  Registration.  ^[^^  made  in  the  original  compact  when  the  Jews 
became  a  dependency  on  the  empire,  that  they  were  to  exer- 
cise the  sovereign  right  to  manage  their  internal  afifairs  in  ac- 

3"  "Ryeixwv,  leader,  guide,  prefect,  president,  governor  of  a  Roman  province. 
«  "  Was  Christ  born  in  Bethlehem  f"  c.  vl,  123,  124. 


ClECUMSTANCES  CONCURRENT  WITH  THE  NaTIVITV.  79 

cordance  with  their  own  laws  and  religion.^  It  is  easy  to  see, 
therefore,  why  every  person  was  expected  to  register  in  his 
own  tribal  territory,  and  in  his  own  native  city. 

"  Owing  to  the  care  with  which  the  Jews  preserved  their  family  rec- 
ords and  pedigrees,  all  true  Jews  would  know  what  was  their  family  and 
their  proper  city  according  to  the  ancient  tribal  system,  even  though 
tliey  might  have  been  forced  by  circumstances  to  change  their  abode. 
This  seems  to  have  suggested  the  mode  of  enrollment  which  Luke  de- 
scribes— a  mode  which  would  mai-k  off,  by  a  broad  clear  line,  the  true 
Jews  from  the  mongrel  population  of  Palestine.  All  who  claimed  to  be 
Jews  were  to  repair  to  the  proper  city  of  their  tribe  and  family.  The 
rest  of  the  population,  who  were  probably  much  more  numerous,  would 
be  counted  according  to  their  ordinary  residence."** 

On  this  point  Dr.  Edersheim  remarks: 

"  In  consequence  of  the  decree  of  Caesar  Augustus,  Herod  directed  a 
general  registration  to  be  made  after  the  Jewish  rather  than  the  Roman 
manner.  .  .  .  All  country  people  were  to  be  registered  in  their  own  city, 
meaning  thereby  the  town  to  which  the  village  or  place  where  they  wove 
born  was  attached.  In  so  doing,  'the  house  or  lineage'  was  marked. 
According  to  the  Jewish  mode  of  registration,  the  people  would  have  to 
be  enrolled  according  to  their  tribes,  families,  or  clans,  and  the  house  of 
their  fathers.  ...  In  the  case  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  whose  descent  from 
David  was  not  only  known,  but  where,  for  the  sake  of  the  unborn  Mes- 
siah, it  was  most  important  that  this  should  be  distinctly  noted,  it  is 
natural  that,  in  accordance  with  Jewish  law,  they  should  go  to  Beth- 
lehem." ^ 

Among  the  last  words  which  are  most  valuable  touching 
this  enrollment  at  the  time  of  the  Nativity,  is  that  given  by 
the  eminent  Augustus  W.  Zumpt,  a  nephew  of  the  §51,  zumpt's 
celebrated  classical  scholar  of  the  same  name,  Researches, 
himself  a  superior  classical  scholar,  and  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinuished  archaeologists  of  this  or  any  other  age,  who  is  a 
resident  of  Berlin.  His  researches  have  attracted  profound 
attention  and  approval  from  men  of  critical  scholarship  and 
learning  on  this  subject.  Schaff  cites  Zumpt  as  claiming  "  that 
there  is  nothing  in  Luke's  account  which  does  not  receive  from 
modern  research /wZ^  historical  probability."  ^    His  conclusion 

«  Joseph.    Ant.  xvl,  2,  3;  Wars,  VI,  6,  2.  «  Christ  born  at  Beth.  188. 

«  Jesus  the  Messiah,  I,  182,  183.  «  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist,  1, 125,  n.  3. 

6 


80  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

that  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Christ  occurred  at  the  time  of 
the  taking  of  the  census  (B.  C.  4)  by  Quirinius  is  indorsed  by 
the  scholarly  Momrasen,  and  accords  with  the  views  of  Ideler, 
Bergmann,  Browne,  Ussher,  and  Sanclemente,  as  also  with  those 
of  Borghesi,  De  Rossi,  Ramsay,  and  Schaff.  In  brief,  Zunipt 
concludes  that  Saturninus  was  governor  of  Syria  in  B.  C,  9-G, 
Yarus  6-4,  and  Quirinius  4-1  A.  D.,  and  again  6-11,  corrected 
chronology.*^ 

A  question  of  vital  interest  historically  has  been  discussed 
of  recent  years:  How  could  Quirinius  have  ordered  an  enroU- 
§52,  The  Two  ^ent  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine  in  B.  C.  4,  when  it 
Re^strations.  jg  ^  known  fact  that  he  was  appointed  governor 
of  Syria  and  made  a  registration  there  ten  years  later,  in 
A.  D.  6  corrected  chronology  ?  The  complete  answer  is,  that 
Quirinius  was  appointed  to  that  office  twice.  His  first  appoint- 
ment was  in  B.  C.  4,  and  his  second  in  A.  D.  6.  In  the  first 
Instance  his  function  was  to  take  a  census  of  the  Jewish  jpop^r 
lotion;  in  the  second,  it  was  a  registration  of  the  Jews^ prop- 
erty^ for  the  purpose  of  taxation.  Under  Pompey  (B.  C.  63) 
the  Jewish  nation  had  been  reduced  to  a  dependency  upon  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  paid  a  certain  tribute  to  the  imperial 
power.  It  was  now  contemplated  to  replace  the  produce- 
tribute  due  Rome  by  an  individual  head-tax  imposed  upon 
every  man  and  woman  in  the  nation  between  the  ages  of  four- 
teen and  sixty-five.  The  census,  however,  was  taken  under 
the  management  of  several  governors  in  succession.  It  was 
begun  under  Sentius  Saturninus,  and  continued  under  Quin- 
tilius  Yarus,  and  completed  under  Publius  Sulpicius  Quirinius, 
as  already  stated. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  this  was  not 
merely  a  local  tax  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine:  it  was  a  universal 
taxation  extending  to  all  the  nations  and  dependencies  em- 
braced within  the  Roman  Empire;  for  Augustus  is  said  to 

«  That  Is,  Saturninus  was  governor  A.  U.  746-748,  Varus  748-750,  Quirinius  750- 
753,  and  again  7(JO-76S. 


Circumstances  Coxcurkent  with  the  Nativity.  81 

have  adopted  the  policy  of  gathering  the  statistics  of  his 
imperial  resources  by  means  of  agents  employed  throughout 
the  empire,  which  he  himself  tabulated  for  ready  reference. 
These  tabulations  were  of  two  classes;  the  first  being  "a  sort 
of  balance  sheet  published  periodically"  for  the  information 
of  the  people;^  the  second,  a  kind  of  compendium  summing 
up  the  dependencies,  kingdoms,  countries,  and  allies,  to  indi- 
cate the  resource  and  military  power  of  the  Roman  Empire.^^ 
These  celebrated  tables  of  statistics  are  said  to  have  been  read 
in  the  Roman  Senate  on  the  occasion  of  the  emperor's  death.^ 
Now,  it  is  quite  obvious  that  Luke,  with  that  historical 
instinct  which  characterizes  his  authorship  throughout,  makes 
distinct  reference  to  both  enrollments  in  a  man-    „^„  ,   , 

§  53.  Luke 

ner  indicating  a  perfect  understanding  of  the    notes  both 

.,       ,.  1  .  ,  1  xi     J.     i;   1  •  Enrollments. 

Situation  on  his  own  part,  and  on  that  oi  his  con- 
temporaries whom  he  addresses.  He  refers  to  the  first  enroll- 
ment as  a  principal  fact  concurrent  with  the  Nativity  of  Jesus, 
and  he  alludes  to  the  second  incide7itally  in  narrating  what 
Gamaliel  said  before  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin  in  the  defense  of 
the  apostles.  In  recounting  the  different  rebellions  in  Pales- 
tine against  the  Roman  power,  Gamaliel  recalled,  "After  this 
man  [Theudas],  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee  in  the  days  of  the 
enrollments'^  *^  In  the  absence  of  any  explanation,  these  two 
references  indicate  that  the  Evangelist  knew  that  he  was  per- 
fectly secure  of  his  ground  in  respect  to  both,  and  that  the  two 
enrollments  were  entirely  familiar  facts  to  his  contemporaries. 
For  he  obviously  wrote  for  those  then  living,  not  for  those 
coming  two  thousand  years  afterwards.  Those  whom  he 
addressed  needed  no  explanations,  and  he  offered  none. 

The  second  governorship  and  enrollment  were  much  the 
more  important  of  the  two.  The  appointment  of  Quirinius 
thereto  was  probably  due  in  a  large  measure  to  his  former  rule 
as  governor,  and  his  superior  tact  and  management  of  the 

^ Raliones  imperii.         *^  Breviariutn  totius  imperii.  *^  Snetonius,  Augustus, 

28, 101;  Tacitus,  Annals,  1, 11;  Dion  Casslus,  lii,  30;  Ivi,  83.      «Acts  v,  37. 


82  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

people  in  taking  the  census  previously.  The  imposition  of  the 
imperial  tax  had  always  involved  much  delicacy  on  the  part 
of  the  government  of  Syria,  owing  to  the  extreme  sensitive- 
ness of  the  Jews  on  that  subject.  The  supreme  thing  in  the 
mind  of  Augustus  was  that  order  and  quiet  should  be  pre- 
served among  the  people  in  the  dependencies  of  the  empire. 
How  difficult  and  delicate  the  duties  imposed  on  Quirinius  in 
enrolling  the  property  of  the  Jews  for  taxation  are  evident 
from  the  fact  that  the  attempts  afterward  to  carry  out  the 
imperial  requirement  were  met  with  vigorous  resistance,  and 
finally  issued  in  an  open  rebellion  and  war  against  the  Romans, 
which  terminated  in  the  complete  overthrow  and  extermina- 
tion of  the  Jewish  nationality. 

§  54.  Historical        ^^-  Philip  Schaflf  citcs  with  approval  several 
Accounts,      high  authorities  as  having  an  important  bearing 
upon  this  historical  question.*    He  says : 

"  Cassiodorus  ^1  and  Suidas^^  expressly  assert  the  fact  of  a  general 
census,  and  add  several  particulars  which  are  not  derived  from  Luke ; 
e.  g.,  Suidas  says  that  Augustus  elected  twenty  commissioners  of  high 
character,  and  sent  them  to  all  parts  of  the  empire  to  collect  statistics 
of  the  population  as  well  as  of  property,  and  to  return  a  portion  to  the 
national  treasury.  Hence  Huschke,  Wieseler,  Zumpt,  Plumptre,  and 
McClellan  accept  their  testimony  as  historically  correct.  .  .  .  "Wieseler 
quotes  also  John  Malala,  the  historian  of  Antioch,  as  saying,  probably  on 
earlier  authorities,  that  'Augustus  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  and  tenth 
month  of  his  reign  [i.  e.,  B.  C.  5  or  6],  issued  a  decree  for  a  general  reg- 
istration throughout  the  empire.'  Julius  Cfesar  had  begun  a  measure- 
ment of  the  whole  empire,  and  Augustus  completed  it." 

confirmations  by  enemies. 

Josephus  does  not  notice  the  Jlrst  governorship  of  Quirinius 

in  Syria,  and  his  taking  the  census  of  the  population  of  the  Jews 

concurrently  with  the  birth  of  Jesus.     Silence  in 

§55.  Test!-  -^ 

mony  of      a  Writer  of  a  given  fact,  however,  can  not  be  le- 
osep  VIS.     gii^ijjia^^giy  construed  as  evidence  that  it  never  oc- 
curred.   Silence  neither  proves  nor  disproves  any  circumstance. 

^HisL  Church,  1, 124, 125,  n.  4.  6i  Variarum,  111,  52. 

*'*A7ro7pa(/)i7,  written  about  A.  D,  19. 


Circumstances  Concurrent  with  the  Nativity.  83 

Ko  historian  records  every  event  of  a  given  time,  especially 
such  as  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  his  work.  Josephus 
was  not  writing  a  history  of  the  Roman  Empire,  much  less  of 
the  origin  of  Christianity,  that  he  should  have  referred  to  the 
census  or  to  Christ's  birth.  The  first  administration  of  Quir- 
inius  was,  in  fact,  merely  preparatory  for  the  second,  and  bore 
no  comparison  with  it  in  importance  and  results.  A  mere 
census-taking  was  a  very  harmless  matter  in  itself;  but  the 
inauguration  of  an  imperial  tax  upon  every  man  and  woman 
in  the  nation  was  most  offensive  to  the  susceptibilities  of  the 
Jews. 

The  second  administration  of  Quirinius  in  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine immediately  succeeded  the  deposing  of  Archelaus  from 
his  ethnarchy  of  Judsea  when  his  territory  became  a  Roman 
province  under  the  government  of  Syria.  In  reference  to 
Quirinius's  second  governorship,  Luke  cites  briefly  the  speech 
of  Gamaliel  before  the  Sanhedrin  thus:  "After  this  man 
[Theudas],  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee,  in  the  days  of  the  taxing ^ 
and  drew  away  much  people  after  him.  He  also  perished,  and 
as  many  as  followed  him  were  dispersed.^  Josephus  refers  to 
the  conduct  of  both  Theudas  and  Judas  of  Galilee  by  name.^ 
His  testimony  is : 

"  Now  Quirinius,  a  Roman  Senator,  and  one  who  had  gone  through 
other  magistracies,  and  had  passed  through  them  till  he  had  been  made 
consul,  .  .  .  was  of  great  dignity,  .  .  .  being  sent  by  [Gains  j  Caesar  to  be 
judge  of  the  nation,  and  to  take  an  account  of  their  substance.  .  .  .  There 
was  one  Judas,  a  Gaulonite,  of  a  city  whose  name  was  Gamala,  who, 
taking  with  him  Sadduc,  a  Pharisee,  became  zealous  to  draw  them  to  a 
revolt,  who  both  said  that  this  taxation  was  no  better  than  an  introduc- 
tion to  slavery,  and  exhorted  their  nation  to  assert  their  liberty."  ^ 

Why  Josephus  mentions  this  "Judas,  a  Gaulonite  of  Ga- 
mala," and  elsewhere  in  four  instances,  and  in  both  histories, 
calls  him  "Judas  of  Galilee,"  is  not  known.  Perhaps  he  was 
born  in  Galilee,  and  afterward  resided  in  Gamala — as  Jesus 
was  called  a  Galilean,^  though  he  was  born  in  Judsea.     Jose- 

MActs  V,  37.  i*Ant.  xx,  5, 1,  2.  f^Ib.  xvlli,  1, 1.  66  Matt,  li,  23. 


84  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

phus  mentions  him  as  the  author  of  a  certain  philosophy^ 
among  the  Jews ;  in  noting  that  "  the  two  sons  of  Judas  of 
Galilee  were  slain :  I  mean  that  Judas  who  caused  the  people 
to  revolt  when  Quirinius  came  to  take  an  account  of  the  estates 
of  the  Jews;"®  "when  Archelaus's  part  of  Judasa  was  reduced 
to  a  province  ...  a  certain  Galilean,  whose  name  was  Judas, 
prevailed  with  his  countrymen  to  revolt,  and  said  that  they 
were  cowards  if  they  would  endure  to  pay  a  tax  to  the  Ro- 
mans.^ "In  the  meantime  one  Manahem,  the  son  of  Judas 
that  was  called  a  Galilean,  who  .  .  .  had  formerly  reproached 
the  Jews  under  Quirinius,  that  after  God,  they  were  subject 
to  the  Romans."'*' 

The  witness  of  the  Emperor  Julian  touching  Quirinius  is 

here  in  place.     Having  in  his  command  all  the  archives  of  the 

empire,  he  is  conscious  of  the  absolute  certainty 

monyof  of  his  knowledge  and  resources  in  the  case,  and 
assumes  a  defiant  tone  against  the  Christians  re- 
specting Joseph  and  Mary  being  at  Bethlehem  at  the  time 
that  Quirinius  was  enrolling  the  Jews.     He  says : 

"Jesus  whom  you  celebrate  was  one  of  Caesar's  subjects.  If  you 
dispute  it  I  will  prove  it  by  and  by ;  but  it  may  as  well  be  done  now. 
For  yourselves,  allow  th<it  he  was  enrolled  with  his  father  and  mother  in 
the  time  of  Quirinius."  "  But  Jesus  having  persuaded  a  few  among  you, 
and  those  the  worst  of  men,  has  now  been  celebrated  about  three  hun- 
dred years,  having  done  nothing  in  his  lifetime  worthy  of  remembrance 
— unless  one  thinks  it  a  mighty  matter  to  heal  lame  and  blind  people, 
and  exorcise  demoniacs  in  the  villages  of  Bethsaida  and  Bethany."®^ 

Here  are  three  distinct  implications  which  should  not  pass 
unnoticed : 

(1.)  That  Julian  stood  prepared  to  prove  his  statement,  if  the  Chris- 
tians disputed  it. 

(2.)  That  Jesus  was  enrolled  with  his  father  and  mother  in  the  time 
of  Quirinius. 

(3.)  That  the  Christians  themselves  knew  and  allowed  his  proposi- 
tion to  be  true. 


6Mn^  xvlli,  1,  6.  68/;,.  XX,  5,  2.  ^^Wars,  il,  8,  1.  o^Ib.  11,17,8. 

"  Oyrll,  cited  In  Lardner's  Works,  Vll,  62(5,  627. 


Circumstances  Concurrent  with  the  Nativity.  85 

Certainly  there  was  no  other  time  than  this  when  Jesus 
could  have  been  "enrolled  as  one  of  Caesar's  subjects"  "in  the 
time  of  Quirinius."  The  witness  of  these  adversaries  of  Chris- 
tianity may  now  receive  confirmation  from 

867.    Patristic  Testimony. 

a)  Justin  Martyr,  who  was  a  native  Syrian  and  wrote  about 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  addressed  the  emperor,  the 
Caesars,  the  Senate,  and  the  people  of  Rome,  appealing  to  the 
enrollment  of  Quirinius  then  in  the  governmental  archives  in 
their  possession.     He  says : 

"  Now  there  is  a  village  in  the  land  of  the  Jews,  thirty-five  stadia 
from  Jerusalem,  in  which  Jesus  Christ  was  born,  as  you  can  ascertain 
also  from  the  registers  of  the  taxing  under  Quirinius,  your  first  procurator 
in  Judsea."^^ 

/8)  Quintus  S.  F.  Tertullian,  the  Father  of  Latin  Theology, 
born  in  Carthage,  Africa,  was  eminent  in  the  profession  of 
law.  He  was  a  man  distinguished  for  his  learning  and  elo- 
quence. Writing  with  a  different  purpose  and  from  a  different 
country,  he  refers  to  the  same  enrollment  and  the  same  period, 
mentioning  Saturninus  under  whom  the  Palestinian  enroll- 
ment was  begun,  and  afterward  completed  by  Quirinius.  He 
says: 

"There  is  historical  proof  that  at  this  very  time  a  census  had  been 
taken  in  Judaea  by  Sentius  Saturninus  which  might  have  satisfied  their 
inquiry  respecting  the  family  and  descent  of  Christ."*'  Franciscus 
Junius  is  quoted  as  authority  for  the  historical  statement  that  "the 
agent  through  whom  Saturninus  carried  out  the  Census  in  Judaea  was 
the  governor  Quirinius,  according  to  Luke  ii." 

y)  Clement  of  Alexandria,  a  native  of  Athens,  who  was 
eminent  for  his  talents  and  learning  of  the  Christians,  wrote 
about  the  same  time  as  Tertullian,  near  the  close  of  the  second 
century.  He  says :  "  Our  Lord  was  horn  in  the  twenty-eighth 
year  when  first  the  enrollment  was  ordered  to  he  taken,  in  the 
reign  of  Augustus ^  ^ 

''-First  Apology,  c.  34.  ^'Marcion,  iv,  c.  19,  and  note  3. 

*<  Ore  vpwTov  iK^Xevaav  diroypaipav  yevicrdai,  Strom.  Bk.  1,  c.  21. 


86  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

recorrobobations. 
a)  A  fragment  of  an  inscription  recording  the  honors  of  a 
Koman  officer  named  Q.  ^milius  Secundus,  who  rendered  dis- 
„^„  ,,  tinguished  service  under  Quirinius  when  he  was 

858.  Monu-  ^  ^ 

mental  Testi-  govemor  of  Syria,  was  by  Mommsen  and  other 
mony.  j^jgii  authorities  condemned  as  a  modern  forgery 
and  fraud,  perpetrated  to  give  some  support  to  Luke's  state- 
ment, because  it  mentioned  the  census  taken  by  Quirinius. 
But  recently  the  lost  half  of  the  stone  was  discovered  in  the 
demolition  of  a  building  in  Venice,  Italy,  and  the  recovery 
justified  the  inscription  as  both  ancient  and  genuine.  It  rep- 
resents that, 

**  By  the  orders  of  Quirinius,  he  made  the  census  of  the  population 
of  Apamea  [a  district  in  Syria],  enumerating  117,000  citizens.  The 
emphasis  laid  on  the  number  suggests  that  the  numbering  of  the  total 
population  was  the  chief  object  of  the  Apamean  census.  .  .  .  The 
inscription  leaves  it  uncertain  whether  the  Apamean  numbering  oc- 
curred in  the  first  or  second  administration  of  Syria  by  Quirinius." 

He  is  called  Caesar's  legate  of  Syria.^ 

/8)  A  fragrament  of  a  marble  slab  was  discovered  in  1764, 
near  Tibur  (Tivoli),  bearing  an  inscription  related  to  early 
Christianity,  which  is  now  in  the  custody  of  the  Lateran 
Museum  of  Christian  Antiquities.  It  is  a  record  in  honor  of  a 
Roman  officer  during  the  reign  of  Augustus.  He  was  the 
conqueror  of  a  nation,  and  for  his  military  successes  he  was 
honored  at  Rome  with  two  thanksgivings  made  to  the  gods,'^ 
honors  representing  a  general  in  war,  clad  in  magnificent 
robes,  bearing  his  ivory  scepter,  borne  in  his  triumphal  chariot, 
etc.  He  had  been  proconsul  of  Asia,  and,  as  a  legate  of 
Augustus,  was  governor  of  Syria  twice.  The  name  is  ob- 
literated, but  the  case  fits  no  other  conqueror  of  the  period 
than  Quirinius,  with  respect  to  whom,  however,  the  fitness  is 
so  exactly  complete  that  the  consensus  of  the  best  authorities, 
such  as  Mommsen,  Borghesi,  De  Rossi,  Henzen,  Dessau,  and 

66  Ramsay,  Cfirist  Born  at  Beth.,  150,  151,  168,  240,241. 
^  Supplicationes,  Ramsay,  231. 


ClKCUMSTANCES  CONCURRENT  WITH  THE  NaTIVITY.  87 

others,  assigns  this  monuscription  to  Publius  Sulpicius  Quiri- 
nius,  governor  of  Syria  twice.  ^ 

y)  This  twofold  legation  is  founded  upon  the  statement  of 
Tacitus,  which  is  conlirmed  by  monumental  testimony  un- 
earthed between  the  villa  Hadriani  and  the  Yia  Tiburtina  at 
Kome.  Here  again  the  inscription  is  nameless,  and  some  other 
parts  are  lost.  The  circumstance  known,  however,  adapt  them- 
selves to  no  other  than  Quirinius,  in  the  judgment  of  Bergmann, 
Mommsen,  Merivale,  Zumpt,  and  others.  Supplying  the  miss- 
ing parts,  the  inscription  then  would  read :  "  Quirinius  as  pro- 
consul obtained  Asia  as  a  province.  As  Legate  of  the  deified 
Augustus,  a  second  time,  he  governed  Syria  and  Phoenicia.''^  ^ 

Besides  these,  there  are  three  instances  of  enrollments  re- 
corded upon  the  monument  of  Ancyra,  dating  respectively 
A.  U.  726,  748,  767.  "Tertullian,  who  was  a  learned  lawyer, 
speaks  of  one  in  Judaea  under  Sentius  Saturninus  A.  U.  749 ; 
and  this  would  be  the  one  which  must  be  meant  by  Luke."^ 

§  59.   Svmunary  of  the  Evidence. 

How,  then,  does  the  case  stand  ?  The  several  circumstances 
concurrent  with  the  Nativity  and  infancy  of  Jesus,  as  narrated 
by  the  Evangelist,  are  ten  in  number.  These  are,  the  appear- 
ance of  a  strange  star,  the  visit  of  the  Magi,  their  worship  of 
the  Child  Jesus,  Joseph  warned  to  flee  the  country,  Joseph's 
flight  into  Egypt,  Herod's  massacre  of  the  children,  his  mo- 
tive for  this  procedure,  the  death  of  King  Herod,  the  return 
of  Joseph  and  his  family,  and  the  enrollment  of  Quirinius.  Of 
these,  seven  have  been  substantiated  by  the  testimony  of  the 
arch-enemy  Celsus.  Three  or  four  of  these  have  demanded 
special  discussion  as  principal  facts,  viz.: 

(1)  The  Magi  and  the  Star  of  the  East. 

(2)  The  Death  of  Herod  the  Great. 

(3)  The  Enrollment  under  Quirinius. 


M  Ramsay,  Christ  Born,  etc.,  c.  xl,  227,  228. 

«8  .  .  .  Pbo.  Consul.  Asiam.  Provinoiam.  Op[tinttit  legattjs].  Divi. 
Attgttsti.  [i]tebtjm  [i.  e,  the  second  time]  Syriam.  Et.  Ph[cenioem  admin- 
ISTBAVIT  [or  OBTINTJIT].    See  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  1, 123,  note  1. 

«Schaff,  Hist.  1, 124,  note  1. 


88  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a)  Matthew's  account  of  the  ]V[agi  and  their  mysterious 
guide  in  the  Star  of  the  East  finds  support  in  many  tradi- 
tions of  different  lands  and  peoples.  These  are  interesting, 
and  are  given  for  all  they  are  worth.  If  they  be  set 
aside  because  they  are  traditions,  their  origin  without  an 
historical  basis  should  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for.  Never- 
theless, the  main  support  of  the  argument  related  to  the  star 
is  rabbinical  testimony,  found  in  the  Talmud  as  explanatory  of 
certain  Messianic  passages  which  affirm  that  the  Messiah's 
advent  was  to  be  signalized  by  a  star.  Hence,  too,  the  meas- 
ure of  success  which  accompanied  the  impostor  Bar-KoJcheba, 
"the  Son  of  a  Star,"  who,  claiming  to  be  the  Messiah,  struck 
coin  with  the  image  of  a  star.  These  evidences  are  confirmed 
by  patristic  testimony ;  that  of  Irenaeus,  Justin,  and  Tertul- 
lian.  A  further  confirmation  respecting  the  star  of  the  Magi 
is  founded  upon  the  astronomical  discovery  of  the  conjunction 
of  the  planets,  so  satisfactory  to  the  minds  of  the  great  astron- 
omers, Kepler,  Schubert,  Pritchard,  Encke,  Pingre,  and  others. 

/3)  A  second  principal  fact  looking  to  the  date  of  the  Na- 
tivity is  also  of  a  scientific  character  based  upon  astronomy, 
in  the  moon's  eclipse,  which  Josephus  says  occurred  on  or 
near  "that  very  night  when  King  Herod  died."  This  was  on 
March  13,  A.  U.  750,  or  B.  C.  4.  As  Herod  was  alive  and 
sought  the  young  Child's  life  in  the  massacre  of  the  children, 
it  is  quite  probable  that  the  king  died  within  the  first  year 
after  Christ's  birth,  if  not  indeed  within  a  few  months  of  the 
Nativity. 

y)  Finally,  the  last  principal  fact  furnishing  the  basis  of 
an  argument  respecting  the  time  of  Christ's  birth  is  the  enroll- 
ment  of  QvArinius  as  mentioned  by  Luke.  The  requirement 
of  the  census  was  of  the  Romans;  the  method  of  its  execution 
was  that  of  the  Jews.  This  arrangement  brought  Joseph  and 
Mary  to  the  territory  of  Judah,  and  to  the  city  of  David, 
where  Jesus  was  born  in  exact  accordance  with  the  prediction 
of  prophecy. 


Circumstances  Concurrent  with  the  Nativity.  89 

That  Quirinius  was  twice  appointed  governor  of  Syria  is  re- 
ferred to  by  Luke ;  is  substantiated  by  Cassiodorus,  the  Latin  his- 
torian, and  by  Suidas,  the  lexicographer  and  geographer,  who 
attest  that  some  twenty  honorable  commissioners  were  sent 
by  the  emperor  throughout  the  empire  to  collect  statistics  of 
the  population  and  property.  John  Malala,  the  historian  of 
Antioch,  testifies  -distinctly  that  Augustus  issued  his  imperial 
decree  for  a  general  registration  of  the  empire  as  early  as 
B.  C.  5  or  6 ;  that  Julius  Cassar  began  the  measurement  of  the 
whole  empire,  and  Augustus  completed  it. 

In  this  connection  much  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Emperor  Julian,  who  affirms  in  absolute  terms 
that  Joseph  and  Mary,  with  Jesus,  were  registered  under 
Quirinius,  as  the  Christians  themselves  acknowledged,  when 
Jesus  became  "one  of  Caesar's  subjects."  Christ  also  confirmed 
the  same  when  afterwards  in  his  ministry  he  taught  his 
enemies,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's, 
and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's."  The  occurrence 
of  the  enrollment  at  that  time  is  amply  confirmed  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Justin  and  Tertullian,  both  of  whom  appeal  to  the 
Roman  records  in  the  archives  of  the  government  at  Rome  for 
the  verification  of  their  statements;  and  the  same  fact  of  the 
census  is  assumed  in  the  testimony  of  Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Further,  the  vindication  of  Luke's  statement  of  the  census- 
taking  by  Quirinius  at  the  time  when  Christ  was  born,  is 
found  in  three  or  four  inonumental  inscriptions  of  recent  dis- 
covery which  give  honor  to  Quirinius,  or  verify  his  enrollment 
of  the  Jews  B.  C.  4. 

The  fact  of  the  conjunction  of  the  planets  Jupiter,  Saturn, 
and  Mars,  supplemented  by  a  comet,  as  determined  by 
"Wieseler  in  A.  U.  750,  with  that  of  the  moon's  eclipse  on  the 
night  near  to  Herod's  death  in  750,  and  the  enrollment  of 
Quirinius  in  the  same  year,  constitute  in  combination  a  power- 
ful argument  that  the  historical  event  that  Jesus  was  born 
B.  C.  4  took  place  according  to  our  current  chronology. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

UNIQUE  PLACE  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST  IN 
HISTORY. 

I.  John's  Charactee  and  Mission. 
II.  The  Chronology  of  his  Work. 
ni.  Hi3  Imprisonment  and  Death. 
rV.  The  Relation  op  his  Work  to  Jesus. 
91 


Chapter  IV. 
HISTORICAL  PLACE  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

§  60.    Soiirces :  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literatvire. 

1.  EusEBius  Pamphilius  (b.265-d.340)  was  a  native  of  Palestine,  and  be- 
came Bishop  of  Caesarea  315,  when  he  wrote  his  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory. Upon  the  martyrdom  of  his  eminent  teacher  in  the  Theolog- 
ical School  at  Csesarea,  named  Pamphilius,  Eusebius  assumed  his 
name  in  loving  remembrance  of  him.  He  was  a  man  of  gi-eat 
abilities,  and  the  confidante  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  the  Great, 
who  requested  Eusebius  to  open  the  proceedings  of  the  Council 
of  Nicaea  in  325  with  an  oration,  and  assigned  him  the  place  of 
imperial  honor  at  his  own  right  hand  during  its  sessions.  Dean 
Stanley  mentions  Eusebius  as  at  once  "  the  clerk  of  the  im- 
perial closet,  the  interpreter,  the  chaplain,  and  the  confessor  of 
Constantine." 

Eusebius  published  more  than  thirty  different  literary  works, 
critical,  historical,  exegetical,  doctrinal,  and  apologetic.  Besides 
this  broad  authorship,  he  continued  in  the  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  orator,  minister,  and  bishop.  His  pre-eminence  is  indi- 
cated in  that  he  is  called  "  the  Father  of  Church  History,  the  Chris- 
tian Herodotus,"  and  is  the  recognized  founder  of  the  school  of 
Ecclesiastical  Historians  whose  work  continued  down  through 
several  centuries.  "All  Greek  authors  of  the  fourth  century  who 
undertook  to  write  the  history  of  the  Church,  began  where  Euse- 
bius ended,  as  having  nothing  considerable  to  add  to  his  labor." 
(Tillemont.)  He  wrote  in  Greek,  and  "his  Church  History  and 
Chronicle  will  always  remain  an  invaluable  collection  of  informa- 
tion not  attainable  in  any  other  eminent  author."  (Schaff.)  "Eu- 
sebius seems  to  have  been  very  disinterested,  very  sincere,  and  a 
great  lover  of  peace,  of  truth,  and  religion."  (Du  Pin.)  "  Beyond 
question  the  most  learned  and  most  famous  of  living  writers  at 
that  time."  (Lightfoot.)  "  Of  all  his  works,  the  Ecclesiastical 
History  is  the  most  invaluable."  (Lardner.)  "  Eusebius,  to 
whose  zeal  we  owe  most  of  what  is  known  of  the  history  of  the 
New  Testament  .  .  .  quotes  the  Gospels  eighteen  times." 
(Westcott.) 

98 


94  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

2.  Dion  Cassius  (b.  155)  was  a  native  of  Nicsea,  Bithynia,  in  Asia  Minor. 

He  went  to  Rome  and  became  a  senator  in  the  reign  or  soon  after 
the  death  of  Aurelius  (161-180) .  He  was  made  consul  the  second 
time  under  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus  (222-235),  but  died 
soon  after.  He  wrote  Roman  history  in  the  Greek  language,  in 
which  eighty  books  were  written  in  decades,  of  which  only  eighteen 
or  nineteen  books  have  been  preserved  in  their  entirety.  He 
gives  an  account  of  events  from  the  landing  of  jEneas  in  Italy 
down  to  A.  D.  229.  He  is  generally  esteemed  as  an  eminent  his- 
torian, who  was  careful  in  research,  exact  in  dates,  and  pre-emi- 
nent for  his  elegance  of  style.  "The  various  important  offices 
which  he  held  under  the  emperors  gave  him  valuable  opportuni- 
ties for  historical  investigation."  {Encyc.  Brit.)  An  abridged 
translation  by  J.  Xiphilin  appeared  in  London,  1704.  The  natural 
sympathy  which  Dion  Cassius  felt  for  the  government  which  had 
intrusted  him  with  these  several  offices,  and  access  given  him  to 
the  contents  of  its  archives  for  materials  to  write  its  history,  suf- 
ficiently justify  the  belief  that  Dion  Cassius  must  be  classed  with 
the  adversaries  of  the  Christian  religion,  or  he  would  not  have 
been  loyal  to  the  Roman  Empire. 

3.  David  F.  Strauss  was  a  German  skeptic,  born  at  Wtlrtemberg  in 

1808,  and  died  of  cancer  in  his  native  place  on  February  9,  1874. 
He  studied  at  Tubingen  under  F.  C.  Baur,  the  famous  adversary 
of  Christianity,  pui'suing  both  a  classical  and  theological  course. 
In  1835,  when  twenty-seven,  he  published  his  Life  of  Christ.  He 
attempted  to  account  for  Christianity  on  the  basis  of  a  Mythical 
Theory,  and  in  the  Preface  of  his  work  he  insisted  that  miracle, 
prophecy,  or  indeed  anything  called  supernatural,  can  not  be,  and 
is  unhistorical.  Nevertheless,  he  admits  that  "  Christianity  is  a 
moral  and  spiritual  power  in  the  earth;"  that  "we  can  not  do 
without  it,  nor  can  it  be  lost;"  that  "Jesus  stands  foremost 
among  those  who  have  given  a  higher  ideal  to  humanity."  How- 
ever, Strauss  absolutely  fails  to  account  for  all  this  power  when 
he  holds  for  the  ideal,  but  not  as  an  historical  religion.  He  does 
not  explain  how  it  is  that  mere  myths  should  have  become  "a 
moral  and  spiritual  power  in  the  earth ;"  and  be  of  such  character 
that  "we  can  not  do  without  it,  nor  can  it  be  lost!  "  Ai*e  myths 
a  necessity  to  humanity?  Historical  criticism  so  destroyed 
Strauss's  "Mythical  Theory"  of  the  Gospels  that  he  felt  con- 
strained in  1864  to  rewrite  his  Life  of  Jesus.  It  made  but  little 
impression  on  the  world,  however.  In  his  last  work,  entitled  The 
Old  Faith  and  the  New,  he  repudiates  his  former  estimate  of 
Christ's  character  as  a  religious  genius,  holding  that  his  chief 
characteristic  was  "  fantastic  fanaticism,"  and  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead  "  a  world-wide  humbug."  He  denied  immortality. 
Truly  he  began  as  an  idealist,  and  ended  a  materialist. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  95 

§61.    Place  of  John  the  Baptist  in  History. 

'H  a-yia.  tCov  evayyeXluv  rerpaKTix^ — "  T/te  Holij  Quaternion  of  the  Gospels. — 

EUSEBIUB. 

The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.— Mark. 
There  came  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was  John  ;  the  same  came 

for  witness  that  he  might  bear  witness  of  the  Light.     .     .     .     He 

was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light. — John. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Among  them  that  are  born  of  women,  there  hath 

not  arisen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist. — Jesus. 

ARGUMENT. 

The  ancient  adversaries  of  Christianity  in  their  writings  have  much  to 
say  of  the  noble  and  devout  character  of  John  the  Baptist,  but  are 
almost  silent  touching  the  supreme  character  of  Jesus,  the  Christ 
OP  God.  Nevertheless,  what  they  say  of  the  Baptist  accords  well 
with  the  statements  of  the  Gospels,  and  furnishes  this  added  inter- 
est, that  they  supplement  certain  details  which  are  omitted  by 
the  Evangelists,  pertaining  to  the  close  of  John's  life.  In  their 
cognition  of  the  Baptist's  character  and  ministry  they  furnish  a 
connecting  link  with  the  Christ  of  History,  and  so  far  verify  the 
antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  relation  of  John  the  Baptist  to  the  person  and  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  highly  important  in  this  historical  inquiry. 
John's  whole  public  service  was  of  a  character  to  prepare  the 
people  and  to  introduce  with  his  witness  the  Christ  of  the  Scrip- 
tures; and  accordingly  John's  ministry  in  history  derives  its  sig- 
nificance from  his  relation  to  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  was  the  express  function  of  the  Baptist  to  be  the  announcer  to 
the  world  of  the  Christ  who  was  to  follow,  and  of  his  kingdom 
then  at  hand,  calling  upon  the  people  to  repent  and  be  baptized 
unto  a  better  life.  By  the  rite  of  John's  baptism  the  Lord  Jesus 
was  inaugurated  into  his  Messianic  ministry,  when  it  was  revealed 
from  heaven  by  Another  Witness  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God. 
This  work  accomplished,  John  disappears  from  the  page  of  history. 

1.  Character  and  Ministry  of  John. 

2.  The  Chronology  of  John's  Work. 

3.  Imprisonment  and  Death  of  John. 

4.  Relation  of  his  Ministry  to  Jesus. 

a)  John's  Sanctity  and  Woek. 

All  four  Evangelists  record  briefly  the  historical  existence 
of  this  last  prophet  of  Israel,  the  famous  announcer  of  Christ 
and  his  kingdom.     The  first  two  Gospels  declare  substantially 


96  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  same  facts  with  some  variety  of  expression,  indicating 
§  62.  The  Go8-  at    oncc    the   function  of  the  Baptist's  preach- 

pels  and  the     .  ,     ,  .  i  •    n  i 

Baptist.        mg,    and    his   marvelous   iniluence   and    power 

with  the  people: 

"  In  those  days  cometh  John  the  Baptist  preaching  in  the  wilderness 
of  Judsea,  saying,  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  For 
this  is  he  that  was  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  the  prophet  saying. 

The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
Make  ye  ready  the  way  of  the  Lord  ; 
Make  his  paths  straight. 

Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judaea,  and  all  the  region  round 
about  Jordan,  and  they  were  all  baptized  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan, con- 
fessing their  sins."  ^ 

Luke  opens  his  Gospel  with  an  account  of  John's  birth,  and 
Mark  with  an  account  of  his  public  life.  After  a  few  sen- 
tences in  the  opening  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  John  introduces 
the  Baptist  with  the  special  remark,  "  There  came  a  man  sent 
from  God,  whose  name  was  John;"^  and  Mark  adds  that 
"Herod  feared  John,  knowing  that  he  was  a  righteous  and 
holy  man."^  In  respect  to  John's  ministry  Luke  recalls  the 
prophecy  of  his  father  Zacharias  over  his  infant  child,  "  Thou, 
child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Most  High."  Then, 
passing  over  the  long  solitude  and  silence  of  his  private  life  in 
the  desert,  he  resumes  at  the  beginning  point  of  his  public 
activities : 

"The  word  of  God  came  to  John  the  son  of  Zacharias  in  the  wilder- 
ness ;  and  he  came  into  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan  preaching 
the  baptism  of  repentance  unto  the  remission  of  sins.  With  many  other 
exhortations  therefore  preached  he  good  tidings  unto  the  people."  ^ 

Eusebius  transmits  some  interesting  particu- 

§63.  Testi-  *=    ^ 

mony  of      lars  which  are  helpful  to  a  proper  understanding 
^     ^    ■     of  the  purpose  had  by  the  Evangelists  in  opening 
their  several  Gospels  with  reference  to  the  time  of  the  Bap- 
tist's ministry.     He  says: 

'*  The  apostle  [John]  in  his  Gospel  gives  the  deeds  of  Jesus  before 
the  Baptist  was  cast  into  prison ;  but  the  other  three  Evangelists  men- 


iMatt.111,1-3,5;  comp.  Mark  1.  2-.5.     s.John  1,6.      8Markvl,20.      ■'Luke  iii,2,8,18. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  97 

tion  the  circumstances  [occurring]  after  that  event."  "  For  it  is  evident 
that  the  other  three  Evangelists  only  vprote  the  deeds  of  our  Lord  for 
one  year  after  the  imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  intimated 
that  in  the  very  beginning  of  their  history."  * 

Josephus  confirms  the  Evangelists  in  nearly  every  essential 
particular.     He  says: 

"Now,  some  of  the  Jews  thought  that  the  destruction  of  Herod's 
army  came  from  God,  and  that  very  justly,  as  a  punishment  for  what  he 
did  against  John  that  was  called  the  Baptist.    For  Herod 
[Antipas]  slew  him  who  was  a  good  man,  and  commanded  ^^^'  Jos^Phus 
the  Jews   to   exercise   virtue  both   as   to  righteousness        Baptist 
toward  one  another  and  piety  toward  God,  and  so  to 
come  to  his  baptism,     .     .     .    supposing  that  the  soul  was  thoroughly 
purified  beforehand  by   righteousness.       Now,  when   others   came   in 
crowds  about  him — for  they  were  greatly  moved  by  hearing  his  words — 
Herod   feared  lest  the  gi-eat  influence  of  John  which  he  had  over  the 
people  might  put  it  in  his  power  and  inclination  to  raise  a  rebellion,  for 
they  seemed  ready  to  do  anything  he  would  advise,"®  etc. 

The  accordancy  of  Josephus's  witness  with  the  record  of 
the  Evangelists  respecting  the  private  character  and  public 
influence  of  the  Baptist  is  complete  in  proving  the  main  facts 
so  far  as  stated  in  the  Gospels  to  be  historical.  It  leaves 
nothing  more  to  be  desired.  The  confirmation  of  Josephus  is 
distinct  and  decisive  on  the  following  points : 

1.  He  identifies  by  name  and  occupation  the  man  known  as  "  John  who 

was  called  the  Baptist." 

2.  He  affirms  his  uprightness  and  religious  character  before  the  public : 

**  He  was  a  good  man." 

3.  He  commends  his  ministry:  "Who  commanded  virtue  toward  men, 

and  piety  towards  God." 

4.  He  mentions  John's  religious  function  for  a  better  life:  that  men 

"  should  come  to  his  baptism." 

5.  He  accredits  him  with  gi*eat  influence  over  men:  "  Herod  feared  the 

great  influence  of  John." 

/8)  Cheonology  of  John's  Ministry. 
To  complete  the  historicity  of  John's  ministry,  its  chro- 
nology remains  to  be  considered.     In  a  manner   ^55.  Luke's 
very  remarkable,  but  with  characteristic  exact-    chronology, 
ness,  Luke  gives  his  chronological  data  in  accordance  with  the 

5  Hccl.  Hist.  B.  lii,  c.  24,  p.  98,  Bohn's  ed.  ^Antiq.  xvlll,  5,  2. 


98  Historical  Evidence  of  the  ISTew  Testament. 

usage  of  his  age.  In  referring  to  the  Baptist's  life  and  work 
he  mentions  all  the  rulers  of  his  period  in  Palestine,  whether 
civil  or  ecclesiastical,  whether  imperial  or  local,  together  with 
their  respective  offices  and  realms.  He  specifies  no  distinct 
dates,  which  is  a  modern  custom ;  but  he  designates  by  periods 
and  rulers,  which  was  the  common  ancient  custom.  Nothing 
could  better  prove  that  the  writer  of  the  third  Gospel  was  a 
contemporary  of  the  times  in  which  he  is  commonly  believed 
to  have  written  than  this  method  of  indicating  events  by 
reigns  and  rulers;  and  nothing  would  sooner  betray  a  later 
authorship  of  Luke's  writings  than  the  more  modern  mode  of 
dating  by  the  calendar.  But  without  hesitation  or  explana- 
tion, and  assuming  it  to  be  understood  by  his  contemporaries 
and  their  successors  as  much  as  by  himself,  Luke  gives  a  long- 
list  of  officials,  and  their  respective  places,  without  a  single 
mistake.     He  says : 

"Now  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius 
Pilate  being  governor  of  Judsea,  and  Herod  [Antipas]  being  tetrarch  of 
Galilee,  and  his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of  the  region  of  Itursea  and 
Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  in  the  high  priesthood  of 
Annas  and  Oaiaphas,  the  Word  of  God  came  unto  John,  the  son  of  Zacha- 
rias  in  the  wilderness."'' 

Dr.  David   Friedrich  Strauss,  of  Germany,  the  stalwart 
§66.  strauss's  enemy    of    Christianity    for   the    past    century, 
Confirmation,  affirms  the  absolute  correctness  of  Luke's  histor- 
ical chronology.     He  says : 

"  Luke  determines  the  date  of  John's  appearance  by  various  syn- 
chronisms, placing  it  in  the  time  of  Pilate's  government  in  Judaea,  in  the 
sovereignty  of  Herod,  of  Philip  and  Lysanias  over  the  divisions  of  Pales- 
tine, and  in  the  high  priesthood  of  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  and  moreover 
precisely  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  which,  reckoning 
from  the  death  of  Augustus,  corresponds  with  the  year  28-29  of  our  era. 
With  this  last  and  closest  demarcation  of  time,  all  the  foregoing  less  precise 
ones  agree.  Even  that  which  makes  Annas  high  priest  together  with  Caiaphas 
appears  correct  if  we  consider  the  peculiar  influence  which  that  ex-high  priest 
retained."^ 


T  Luke's  Gospel,  ill,  1,  2.  »Lebc)i  J^psh,  $14,  pp.  800,  301. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  99 

There  is  further  confirmation  of  this  chronology  given  by 
the  Latin  historian  of  fame,  Tacitus,  a  contemporary  of  Luke, 
who  was  writing  upon  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus. 

°      \  ^§67.  Conflr- 

Both  John  the  Baptist  and  Jesus  died  within  less    mation  by 
than  four  years  of  this  chronological  datuin  of  ^  ^* 

the  beginning  of  John's  ministry,  and  perhaps  within  two 
years  of  each  other.  No  changes  occurred  among  the  rulers 
during  this  brief  period.  This  same  Herod  Antipas  of  Galilee 
figures  with  his  soldiers  in  mockery  of  Jesus  before  the  cru- 
cifixion.^   Tacitus  observes: 

"Christ,  the  Founder  of  that  name,  was  put  to  death  as  a  crimi- 
nal by  Pontius  Pilate,  procurator  of  Judaea,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius 
[Caesar].  "10 

Here  again  is  entire  agreement  with  Luke's  chronology. 
Pilate  ruled  as  procurator  of  Judaea,  in  behalf  of  the  Eoman 
Empire,  for  a  single  decade — viz.,  26-36  A.  D. — and  Tiberius 
reigned  as  emperor  for  twenty-three  years;  viz.,  14-37  A.  D. 
iN'ow,  a  twofold  advantage  arises  in  placing  together,  in  com- 
parison, the  witness  of  Luke's  chronology  respecting  the  Bap- 
tist's ministry  and  that  of  Tacitus  respecting  Christ's  cruci- 
fixion. First,  it  evidences  the  customary  method  of  the 
writers  of  those  times  in  indicating  chronological  data  by 
definite  periods  falling  mthin  the  reign  of  certain  rulers; 
secondly,  in  proving  the  very  historical  identity  of  the  rulers 
in  power  during  John's  ministry  as  well  as  that  of  Christ. 
Luke  and  Tacitus  were  contemporaries,  writing  of  different  per- 
sons, but  citing  the  same  rulers  as  in  office  at  the  same  time. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  historical  proof  more  conclusive. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  testimony  of  Jo-   §^^-  confir- 

1  •    1  1    •     1  1  •  maticn  by 

sephus  as  a  third  and  independent  witness,  cor-     josephus. 
roborative  of  Luke's  statement  of  the  local  rulers,  and  their 
respective  forms  of  government : 

"  While  Herod  and  Philip  had  each  of  them  received  his  own  te- 
trarchy  and  settled  the  affairs  thereof,    .    .     .    the  other  sons  of  Herod 

9 Luke  xxill,  7-11.  v<AnnaU,  xv,  44. 


100         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

[the  Great],  Philip  [II],  and  that  Herod  who  was  called  Antipas,  each  of 
them  took  upon  him  the  administration  of  their  own  tetrarchies." 
"Now,  Pilate  who  was  sent  as  procurator  into  Judsea  by  Tiberius,""  etc. 

y)  John's  Imprisonment  and  Death. 
Attention  may  now  be  directed  to  the  unrighteous  impris- 
onment of  this  righteous  man  John,  by  Ilerod  Antipas,  the 
tetrarch  of  Galilee,  by  whose  order  he  was  finally  executed  in 
the  prison.  The  several  Gospels,  taken  in  their  order,  record 
the  special  occasion  of  Herod's  procedure  against  the  Baptist. 

Matthew  says:  "  Herod  had  laid  hold  on  John  and  bound  him,  and 
put  him  in  prison  for  the  sake  of  Herodias,  his  brother  Philip's  wife. 

For  John  said  unto  him  [Herod],  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee 
^^•'^°^°^    to  have  her.     And  when  he  would  have  put  him  to  death, 

he  feared  the  multitude  because  they  counted  him  as  a 
prophet.  Now  when  he  [Jesus]  heard  that  John  was  delivered  up,  he 
withdrew  into  Galilee."  ^^  Mark  mentions  the  same  thing,  adding  of 
Herod  that  "he  had  married  her.''^^  Luke  says  that  "Herod  the  te- 
trarch, being  reproved  by  him  for  Herodias  his  brother's  wife,  and  for  all 
the  things  which  Herod  had  done,  added  yet  this  above  all,  that  he  shut 
up  John  in  prison.""  The  apostle  John  makes  this  brief  reference: 
"  For  John  was  not  yet  cast  into  prison."  ^^ 

§70.  Jose-  Josephus  not  only  confirms  the  Evangelists  as 

phus's  Con-  r  J  o 

flrmation.     to  the  vile  character  of  Herodias,  but  enlarges 
upon  the  intrigue  of  Herod  with  this  woman,  adding: 

"  But  Herodias  .  .  .  was  married  to  Herod  [Philip  I],  the  son  of 
Herod  the  Great,  who  was  born  of  Mariamne,  the  daughter  of  Simon  the 
high  priest,  who  had  a  daughter  Salome,  after  whose  birth  Herodias 
took  upon  her  to  confound  the  laws  of  our  country,  and  divorce  herself 
from  her  husband  while  he  was  alive,  and  was  married  to  Herod  [Anti- 
pas], her  husband's  brother  by  the  father's  side.  He  was  tetrarch  of 
Galilee."  ^^  "About  this  time  Aretas  [the  King  of  Arabia  Petrsea]  and 
Herod  [Antipas]  had  a  quarrel  on  the  following  account:  Herod  the 
tetrarch  had  married  the  daughter  of  Aretas,  and  had  lived  with  her 
a  great  while.  .  .  .  However,  he  fell  in  love  with  Herodias,  this  last 
Herod  [Philip's]  wife,"  and  intrigued  to  marry  her  which  Herod  Antipas 
finally  accomplished.  "  One  article  of  this  marriage  also  was  this,  that 
he  should  divorce  Ai-etas's  daughter."* 

Josephus  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  John's 

reproof  administered  to  Herod  Antipas,  for  which  the  tetrarch 

*Ant.  xvlll,  5, 1,  2;  xvll,  10,  9. 

u  Ant.  xvill,  2, 1 ;  Warn,  11,  Ix,  I,  2.       12  Matt,  xlv,  3-12;  Iv,  12.       JSMark  vi,  17-20. 

"Luke  111,  10,  20.  15  John  Hi,  24.  'o^n^.  xvlll,  5,  4;  xvlll,  7, 1. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  101 

imprisoned  him.    But  this  is  not  all.    For  some  time  after  Jolin 
was  immm-ed  another  event  occurred,  which  was 

'  §71.  Occasion 

the  immediate  occasion  of  his  death.     It  was  a        of  ms 
revengeful  execution;  and  the  only  Evangelists      ^^^^  °°' 
who   record  the   particulars  are   the   first   two.      Matthew 
mentions  that — 

"  When  Herod's  birthday  came,  the  daughter  of  Herodias  danced  in 
the  midst,  and  pleased  Herod ;  whereupon  he  promised  with  an  oath  to 
give  her  whatsoever  she  should  ask.  And  she,  being  put  forward  by  her 
mother,  saith :  Give  me  here  in  a  platter  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist. 
And  the  king  was  grieved ;  but  for  the  sake  of  his  oaths  and  of  them 
that  sat  at  meat  with  him,  he  commanded  it  to  be  given  ;  and  he  sent 
and  beheaded  John  in  prison.  And  his  head  was  brought  in  a  charger 
and  given  to  the  damsel ;  and  she  brought  it  to  her  mother.  And  his 
disciples  came  and  took  up  the  corpse  and  buried  him ;  and  they  went 
and  told  Jesus."  ^^ 

Mark  affirms  the  same  facts,  but  gives  these  added  particu- 
lars, viz.:  that  "Herodias  set  herself  against  him,  and  desired 
to  kill  him,  but  she  could  not;  for  Herod  feared  John,  knowing 
that  he  was  a  righteous  and  holy  man;  but  he  kept  him  safe;" 
that  the  birthday  celebration  consisted  of  "a  supper  to  his 
lords,  and  high  captains,  and  the  chief  men  of  Galilee ;"  that 
"a  soldier  of  the  guard"  was  sent  to  behead  him,  and  that 
Herod's  promise  to  the  girl  would  comprise  any  gift  she 
would  ask,  even  "to  the  half  of  his  kingdom." ^^ 

These  testimonies  relating  to  Herod  and  He-  „„„  „     . 

°  8  72.  Testimo- 

rodias,  when  analyzed  and  compared,  yield  the     nies  com- 
f  olio  wing  facts :  ^^^^ 

1.  Herod  Antipas  was  previously  married  to  the  daughter  of  King  Aretas 

of  Petrgea.     So  affirms  Josephus  ;  but  the  Evangelists  are  silent  on 
that  subject. 

2.  Matthew  and  Mark  mention  a  daughter  of  Herodias  who  danced  on 

Herod's   birthday.      Josephus   mentions   her   as    Herod   Philip's 
daughter,  whose  name  was  Salome. 

3.  Mark  assumes  as  a  fact  that  Philip  was  alive  when  Antipas  married 

Herodias.     Josephus  affirms  that  she  "divorced  herself  from  her 
husband  [Philip]  while  he  was  alive." 

4.  Three  Evangelists  recoi-d  John's  reproof  of  Herod,  that  his  marrying 

Herodias  was  unlawful.     Josephus  alleges  that  Herodias's  second 
marriage  "  confounded  the  Jewish  laws." 

"  Matt,  xlv,  6-12.       18  Mark  vi,  1&-29. 


102         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Evangelists,  with  each  other,  and  all 
with  Josephus,  are  in  such  complete  accord  that  not  a  single 
point  of  discrepancy  appears,  each  one  writing  independently. 
At  some  points  Josephus  supplements  what  the  Evangelists 
naturally  omit  as  remote  from  their  own  particular  line  of 
historical  narration.  And  all  evince  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  public  affairs  which  they  undertake  to  record,  even  to  the 
marital  relations  of  the  chief  ruler  of  the  realm.  At  all 
points  the  sacred  writers  are  particularly  without  obscurity, 
without  confusion,  without  mistake,  albeit  sometimes  quite 
brief.  And  Josephus,  writing  apart  from  and  independently 
of  the  Evangelists,  more  than  corroborates  them  in  that  he 
gives  added  details  of  how  Herod's  marriage  with  Herodias 
came  to  pass;  while  the  Evangelists  relate  only  that  which 
occurred  after  the  wedding  as  its  consequence.  They  mu- 
tually confirm ;  and  both  are  historical. 

It  is  something  remarkable  that  the  four  Evangelists  refer 
directly  to  the  incarceration  of  the  Baptist,  but  not  one  men- 
§73.  Place  of  tions  the  name  or  location  of  the   prison.     Its 

Prison.  identity,  however,  has  been  conclusively  deter- 
mined by  means  of  the  details  given  by  Josephus.  Its  modern 
Arabic  name  is  Mkaur,^^  anciently  known  as  Mach^rus,  "a 
place  on  the  borders  of  Aretas  and  Herod,"  "high  in  the 
mountain  fastnesses  of  Peraea,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Dead 
Sea,"  a  few  miles  south  of  the  northern  extreme  of  that  body 
of  water.  It  is  situate  upon  a  lofty  summit,  surrounded  by 
deep  ravines  on  all  sides,  having  by  nature  immense  strength, 
and  was  originally  intended  to  serve  as  a  check  upon  the 
marauding  tribes  from  Arabia,  invading  Palestine.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  the  banquet-hall  in  which  Herod's  birthday 
was  celebrated  was  in  the  palace,  quite  near  or  immediately 
connected  with  this  prison — the  palace  built  and  beautified  by 
this  tetrarch's  father,  Herod  the  Great.     Josephus  mentions 


"See  Edershelm,  Z,i/eo/C/iris«,  1, 659,  060;  Trlstam's  3foa6,  274-275;  Baedeker, 
Palestine,  ed.  1876,  p.  308;  and  Josephus,  Wars,  vll,  6, 1. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist,  103 

"the  royal  palaces  at  Betharamptha,  near  the  Jordan."^  Dr. 
Farrar  describes  the 

"  Palace-castle  of  Machserus  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea.  It 
was  built  on  the  side  of  the  ravine  between  Abarira  and  Pisgah,  and  not 
far  fi'om  the  baths  of  Calirrhoe.  At  this  place  he  [Herod]  and  his 
courtiers,  in  soft  clothing,  would  be  near  ^non  and  other  places  where 
John  baptized.  .  .  .  For  Machserus,  pei'ched  on  the  wild,  precipitous 
rocks  of  the  Zerka-ma-in,  was  inaccessible  and  impregnable,  nor  was 
there  the  least  possibility  that  the  prophet  could  ever  be  rescued  by  his 
followers  from  the  rock-hewn  dungeon  beneath  the  splendid  banquet- 
halls."  "In  the  same  mountains  in  which  Israel  sought  for  the  grave 
of  her  first  prophet  [Moses],  was  her  last  [prophet]  entombed."" 

As  to  Herod's  purpose  in  this  procedure  against  the  Bap- 
tist, Josephus  remarks : 

"  Herod     .     .     .     thought  it  best  by  putting  him  to  death  to  prevent 
any  mischief  he  might  cause,  and  not  bring  himself  into   „„^  „       ■., 
difficulties  by  sparing  a  man  who  might  make  him  repent   "    Motive. 
of  it  when  it  would  be  too  late.     Accordingly  he  [John] 
was  sent  a  prisoner  out  of  Herod's  suspicious  temper  to  Machserus, 
.     .     .     and  was  there  put  to  death."^ 

There  is  no  divergence  in  the  narration  of  historical  facts 
between  the  sacred  Avriters  and  Josephus  touching  John's  im- 
prisonment and  execution ;  but  there  is  a  difference  in  the  mo- 
tive imputed  to  Herod  for  such  procedure.  Josephus  refers 
Herod's  conduct  to  his  extremely  "suspicious  temper"  and 
fear  of  John's  influence  over  the  people,  which  might  result  in 
rebellion,  and  so  "  thought  it  best  to  put  him  to  death  to  pre- 
vent any  mischief  thereafter ! "  No  overt  act  on  John's  part 
is  hinted ;  it  was  a  mere  matter  of  Herod's  suspicious  disposi- 
tion. Suspicion  might  possibly  account  for  the  arrest  and  in- 
carceration of  John,  but  it  could  not  justify  his  execution. 
Besides,  when  the  Baptist's  head  was  demanded  by  the  women 
of  his  household,  the  tetrarch  is  said  to  have  been  "  exceeding 
sorry:"  "for  Herod  feared  John,  knowing  that  he  was  a  just 
and  holy  man."  ^ 

^  T6  HXTja-iov  'lopddvov  paaiXela  Kard,  BaOapd/xadov ;  comp.  Wars,  11,  4,  2,  and 
vli,  6,  1,  2.  21  The  Herods,  170, 172, 174.  "^  Ant.  xviil,  6, 1,  2.  S8Mark  vl,  20. 


104         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

Upon  the  other  hand,  the  Evangelists  attribute  the  murder 
of  John  to  the  conspiracy  of  the  two  women,  but  especially  to 
the  malignant  revenge  sought  and  secured  by  the  infamous 
Herodias  because  John  had  exercised  the  courage  to  confront 
the  tetrarch  and  charge  upon  Herod  and  herself  the  guilt  of 
illicit  relations  together.  Herodias  was  a  Jewess,  who  had 
"  confounded  the  Jewish  institutions,"  as  Josephus  puts  it,  by 
this  bad  conduct.  Hence,  "  Herodias  set  herself  against  him, 
and  desired  to  kill  him,  but  she  could  not,  for  Herod  .  .  . 
kept  him  safe."  But  she  "nursed  her  wrath  and  kept  it 
warm."  But  at  the  birthday  festivities,  when  her  daughter's 
graces  had  captivated  Herod  so  that  he  swore  to  gratify  her 
wish,  even  to  the  half  of  his  realm,  the  mother  saw  her  oppor- 
tunity to  avenge  her  hate,  and  instigated  a  demand  for  the 
head  of  the  Baptist,  to  be  delivered  to  her  in  a  platter,  and 
though  Herod  "was  grieved"  at  such  a  request,  and  too  proud 
of  his  word  passed  in  the  presence  of  his  distinguished  guests, 
he  sent  the  ax-man,  who  brought  and  presented  the  ghastly 
gift  to  the  women  before  them  all,  to  grace  the  celebration  of 
Herod's  birthday!  All  this  ingrained  subtlety,  so  perfectly 
characteristic  of  a  bad  woman's  revenge  and  a  weak  man's 
vacillation,  carries  its  own  conviction  of  truth  to  the  mind. 

Josephus  obviously  reflects  the  public  opinion  of  the  Jews, 
as  he  says,  while  the  Evangelists  furnish  the  internal  and 
§75.  Herod's  private  history  of  the  case,  touching  John's  re- 
vaciuation.  proof,  not  knowu  to  the  outer  w^orld.  It  is  easy 
to  understand  how,  at  this  time,  the  first  Christians  had  spe- 
cial means  of  information,  being  in  communication  with 
John's  disciples ;  for  after  John's  burial  his  disciples  "  went 
and  told  Jesus."  Meantime  opposite  and  conflicting  impulses 
affected  Herod's  mind,  and  occasioned  his  vacillation  of  con- 
duct toward  John  at  different  times;  for  Mark  relates  that 
"Herod  feared  John;  .  .  .  and  when  he  heard  him  he 
was  much  perplexed,  and  he  heard  him  gladly."  In  the  first 
instance,  "  the  fear  of  John,"  whom  he  knew  to  be  a  good 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  105 

man,  added  to  the  sting  of  his  personal  reproof  and  sense  of 
guilt,  constrained  Herod  to  kill  and  silence  him ;  but,  on  re- 
flection, his  "  fear  of  the  multitude,"  who  believed  in  John,  re- 
strained him  from  doing  it.  However  conflicting  the  opposite 
motives,  they  were  not  incompatible.  For,  as  Strauss  remarks : 
"Antipas  might  well  fear  that  John,  by  his  strong  censure  of 
the  marriage,  and  the  whole  course  of  the  tetrarch's  life  would 
stir  up  the  people  into  a  rebellion  against  him."  At  length 
he  compromised  the  matter  by  arresting  John,  to  keep  him 
safe  in  prison.  When,  then,  Herod's  birthday  had  come 
around,  his  better  judgment  had  somewhat  assumed  its  sway, 
so  that  "  the  king  was  grieved "  and  "was  exceeding  sorry" 
when  the  surprising  demand  was  made  that  John  should  be 
beheaded.  However,  all  accounts  attest  that  Herod  did  put 
John  to  death.  Josephus  does  not  contradict  the  Evan- 
gelists; the  two  motives  assigned  are  not  exclusive  of  each 
other  in  the  case,  but  alternated  powerfully  in  his  con- 
sciousness. 

It  has  been  objected  that  the  beheading  of  John,  a  prophet, 
by  the  king  was  too  remarkable  a  transaction  in  high  life  to 
be  historical.  But  this  is  mere  sentiment,  not  §76.  skeptical 
fact.  It  was  certainly  a  remarkable  occurrence,  objection, 
but  not  therefore  unhistorical.  The  account  given  of  it  by 
Josephus  is  even  more  marvelous  than  that  of  the  Gospels. 
It  can  not  be  claimed  that  history  furnishes  no  instance  of  de- 
capitation in  high  life  at  that  early  period  by  such  an  order. 
Dion  Cassius  relates  that,  not  remote  from  this  period,  Agrip- 
pina,  the  wife  of  Claudius  and  mother  of  Nero,  dispatched  an 
officer  to  behead  Lollia  Paulina,  who  had  been  her  rival  for 
imperial  dignity.  And  when  the  head  was  brought  to  her 
Agrippina  failed  to  recognize  the  features;  but,  taking  the 
head  into  her  own  hands  for  examination,  she  discovered  a 
certain  mark  on  her  features  which  had  specially  distinguished 
her  appearance  in  her  lifetime.^ 

«♦  Hist,  of  Rome,  B.  Ix;  34. 


106         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

8)  John's  Relation  to  Jesus. 

Josephus  is  careful  to  state  that  John  the  Baptist  was  a 

holy  man,  preached  repentance  unto  the  people,  baptized  unto 

the  remission  of  sins,  was  imprisoned  by  Herod 

8  77.  Josephus  '  ^  '' 

and         Antipas,  and  afterwards  slain  by  his  order;  but 

Edersheim.     i  i  ,.  ,i  -..  -,    .•  •   , 

he  nowhere  mentions  the  peculiar  relation  exist- 
ing between  Jesus  and  John  respecting  their  work.  Neither 
does  he  notice  John's  witness  of  Jesus,  nor  yet  the  testimony 
of  Jesus  respecting  John.  Edersheim  expresses  a  conjectural 
opinion  in  explanation  of  these  omissions.     He  says: 

"  Josephus  always  carefully  suppresses,  as  far  as  possible,  all  that 
refers  to  Christ — probably  not  only  in  accordance  with  his  own  religious 
views,  but  because  mention  of  a  Christ  might  be  dangerous,  certainly 
would  have  been  inconvenient  in  a  work  written  by  an  intense  self- 
seeker,  mainly  for  readers  at  Rome."2o 

Upon  the  other  hand,  Celsus  admits  the  baptism  of  Jesus, 
which  is  the  main  fact  in  the  case,  and  assails  merely  the  ac- 

§78.  John     company ing  circumstances  as  being  incredible; 

and  Celsus.  yjg.,  the  appearance  of  the  dove,  and  the  voice 
from  heaven.  It  is,  however,  merely  his  disbelief  which  he 
would  oppose  to  the  sacred  record  as  a  refutation  of  these  cir- 
cumstances external  to  the  baptism  itself.  Now,  unto  the 
multitudes  of  people  John's  baptism  was  the  sign  of  confession 
of  sin  and  repentance  unto  a  better  life;  but  unto  Jesus,  "who 
knew  no  sin,"  the  rite  was  appropriated  to  signalize  before 
mankind  Christ's  induction  unto  his  Messianic  ministry  of  sal- 
vation unto  men.     So  John  himself  testifies: 

"  On  the  morrow  he  [John]  seeth  Jesus  coming  unto  him,  and  saith, 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  This 
is  He  of  whom  I  said.  After  me  cometh  a  man  which  is  become  before 
me,  for  he  was  before  me.  And  I  knew  him  not,  but  that  he  should  be 
made  manifest  to  Israel,  for  this  cause  came  I  baptizing  with  water. 
And  John  bare  witness  saying,  I  have  beheld  the  Spirit  descending  as  a 
dove  out  of  heaven  ;  and  it  abode  upon  him.  And  I  knew  him  not,  but  he 
that  sent  me  to  baptize  with  water,  he  said  unto  me,  Upon  whomsoever 

»it/e  0/  Jesus,  I,  215. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  107 

thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending  and  abiding  upon  him,  the  same  is 
he  that  baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  I  have  seen  and  have 
borne  witness  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God."^ 

Celsus,  however,  assuming  the  fictitious  character  of  a  Jew 
addressing  Jesus, 

"  Attacks  the  account  of  the  appearance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of 
a  dove  at  the  baptism."  "When  you  were  bathing  beside  John,  you  say 
that  what  had  the  appearance  of  a  bird  from  the  air  alighted  upon 
you.  .  .  .  What  credible  witness  beheld  this  appearance,  or  who 
heard  a  voice  from  heaven  declaring  you  to  be  the  Son  of  God?"^' 

The  relation  of  John  and  Jesus  was  something  extraordi- 
nary, and  without  a  parallel  in  history.  It  was  not  ecclesiastic 
in  character,  but  religious,  Messianic  and  redemp-  ^,^9  j^^^ 
tive.  John  was  the  connecting  link  between  the  ^^^  Jesus. 
two  great  dispensations  of  God  with  men.  John's  history 
would  indeed  be  weird  if  considered  apart  from  the  explana- 
tion given  of  his  mission  in  the  Gospel.  But  that  furnished, 
harmonizes  the  whole  account.  It  was  his  peculiar  function 
to  close  the  prophetism  of  the  Old  Testament,  while  he  was 
yet  preparing  the  way  for  the  Gospel  of  the  JN'ew  Testament, 
which  culminated  in  his  rite  inducting  the  Christ  to  his  minis- 
try and  redeeming  work.     Jesus  said  of  the  Baptist : 

"This  is  he  of  whom  it  is  written,  Behold  I  send  my  messenger  be- 
fore thy  face  who  shall  prepare  the  way  before  thee.  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  Among  them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath  not  arisen  a 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  .  .  .  For  all  the  prophets  and  the 
law  prophesied  until  John."  ^s 

His  place  on  the  historic  page  marks  the  transitional  point 
in  the  economy  of  the  two  Testaments  and  completes  their 
unity.  His  special  mission  was  realized  when  it  was  illus- 
trated in  the  three  supreme  acts  of  his  ministry :  his  preparatory 
preaching  of  repentance,  whereby  he  introduced  the  Christ  to 
the  apprehension  of  the  world ;  his  baptism  of  Jesus,  whereby 
he  inaugurated  him  to  his  saving  offices  of  the  world ;  and  his 

MJohn  1,  29-a4;  cornp.  Matt.  Hi,  16,  17;  Mark,  i,  9-11;  and  Luke  Iv,  1. 
«  (h-ig.  contra  Celsum,  1,  40,  41.        28  Matt,  xi,  10-13. 


108  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

twice-attested  witness,  that  Jesus  was  the  very  Lamb  of  God 
"  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  ^ 

Many  circumstances  centering  in  John's  personality  and 
history  served  to  intensify  the  interest  of  the  multitudes  in  his 
§80.  John  and  mission.  His  birth  as  the  subject  of  prophecy, 
the  People.  i\^q  advent  of  an  angel  to  announce  the  event,  his 
being  born  of  parents  far  advanced  in  3^ears,  his  long  silence 
in  the  solitudes  of  the  wilderness,  his  strange  appearance  clad 
in  "  camel's  hair,  and  a  leathern  girdle  about  his  loins,"  who  for 
food  fed  upon  "locusts  and  wild  honey,"  the  earnest  severity 
of  his  exactions  in  preaching,  his  insistence  upon  baptism  as  a 
public  confession  of  piety,  his  stern  courage  in  reproving  sin 
in  high  places,  his  distinct  witness  that  Jesus  was  the  Messi- 
anic Redeemer  from  sin,  his  beautiful  grace  in  retiring  from 
the  Christly  Presence,'*  the  abrupt  termination  of  his  work  so 
soon  after  Christ  had  appeared, — these  and  other  considera- 
tions doubtlessly  deepened  the  impression  which  the  Baptist 
made  upon  the  multitudes  and  community  at  large  who  list- 
ened to  his  public  utterances  when  he  exclaimed :  "  I  am  the 
voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Make  straight  the  way 
of  the  Lord,  as  saith  Isaiah  the  prophet."*  "What  wonder 
that  such  preaching  opened  countless  hearts  for  that  of  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles !"  ^ 

§  81.    CoNFIKMATIONS  BY  CHRISTIAN  WrITERS. 

As  exhibiting  the  history  of  the  faith  based  upon  the  fact 
of  John's  life-work,  brief  references  will  be  sufficient. 

a)  Justin  Martyr  (145-150):  "If  John  came  first  calling  on  men  to 
repent  while  he  still  sat  by  the  river  Jordan,  and  Chi-ist  having  come 
put  an  end  to  his  prophesying  and  baptizing,  and  preaching  also  him- 
self, saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  "  The  law  and  the 
prophets  were  until  John  the  Baptist."  ^^ 

/S)  Clement  of  Alexandria  (190-200):  "Who,  then,  is  John?  .  .  . 
John  is  the  Forerunner  and  that  Voice,  the  Precursor  of  the  Word  ;  an 
inviting  Voice  preparing  for  salvation,  .  .  .  and  this  Voice  was  also 
the  Precursor  of  the  Loi-d's  preaching  glad  tidings."^ 

*  "  He  must  Increase,  but  I  must  decrease."    (.John  111,  80.) 

»  John  1,29,  .36.  »  John  1,  23;lsa.  xl,  3.  si  Van  Oosterzee. 

*2  Dialogue  u-ilh  Trypfto,  c.  51.  "  Exhortation  to  the  Heathen,  c.  1. 


HisTOKicAL  Place  of  John  the  Baptist.  109 

7)  Tertullian  (200) :  "  Inasmuch  as  John  is  shown  to  be  both  the 
Forerunner  and  the  Preparer  of  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  who  was  to  in- 
troduce the  gospel  and  publish  the  kingdom  of  God,  it  follows,  from 
the  very  fact  that  John  has  come,  that  Christ  must  be  that  very  Being 
who  was  to  follow  his  Harbinger  John."** 

5)  Origen  (245):  "  Let  us,  therefore,  notice  what  he  [Celsus]  has  to 
say  by  way  of  impugning  the  bodily  appearance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
our  Savior  in  the  form  of  a  dove."  "  I  would  like  to  say  to  Celsus,  who 
represents  a  Jew  as  accepting  somehow  John  as  a  Baptist,  who  baptized 
Jesus,  that  the  existence  of  John  the  Baptist  baptizing  for  the  remission 
of  sins  is  related  by  one  who  lived  no  great  length  of  time  after 
John  and  Jesus ;  for  in  the  Eighteenth  Book  of  his  Antiquities  of  the 
Jews,  Josephus  bears  witness  to  John  as  having  been  a  Baptist,  and  as 
promising  purification  to  those  who  underwent  the  rite,"  etc.^ 

§  82.  E.ECORROBOEAT10NS  IN  Cheistiak  Art. 

As  the  ministry  of  John  culminated  in  that  of  Jesus,  so  the 
real  point  of  contact  and  unity  of  their  work  is  discoverable  in 
John's  baptism  of  Christ.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  that  this 
conception  should  illustrate  itself,  as  it  has  actually  done,  in 
monumental  frescos  and  mosaics  in  Christian  Art. 

a)  Among  the  very  earliest  known  are  two ;  the  one  found  upon 
the  wall  and  another  in  the  sleeping  room  of  a  crypt  of  Santa  Lucina, 
in  the  Catacombs  of  San  Calisto  at  Rome.  The  best  archfeologists  do  not 
question  that  both  represent  the  closing  scene  of  John  in  his  baptism  of 
Jesus,  the  historical  circumstances  of  which  are  so  vividly  described  in 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  The  figure  in  each  fresco  represents  a  man  in 
the  act  of  stepping  forth  from  the  water  of  the  river,  which  reaches  to 
the  knee;  and  as  he  emerges,  he  is  met  by  the  ministrant,  who  is  clad 
in  a  tunic,  and  stands  on  the  shore.  In  both  figures  the  symbol  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  approaching  in  flight  from  behind 
the  one  baptized,  may  be  seen  bearing  an  olive  branch  in  his  beak. 
These  frescos  are  obviously  of  the  same  age,  and  bear  also  to  each  other 
a  striking  resemblance.  This  difference  occurs,  however:  the  first 
figure  of  the  person  baptized  is  nude,  while  in  the  second  it  is  draped 
from  the  waist;  also  in  the  second,  there  is  added  a  pallium  or  a  cloak 
in  place  of  the  mere  tunic  worn  by  the  ministrant  in  the  first  figure.^ 

/3)  Another  representation  in  art  of  the  same  subject  in  mosaics  and 
frescos  was  found  in  San  Giovanni  in  fonte,  Ravenna,  dating  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century.  It  is  placed  "  in  the  crown  of  the  dome." 
"  Christ  stands  in  the  Joixian,  whose  waters  reach  above  the  middle  of 
the  body,  while  John,  standing  on  the  land  and  holding  in  his  left  hand 


**Adv.  Marcion,  B.  iv,  c.  33.  »  Orig.  contr.  Cels.  1,  41.  47. 

»  See  Bennett's  Archteology,  pp.  396,  398,  Figs.  126, 127, 128. 


110  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a  jeweled  cross,  is  pouring  water  upon  the  head  of  Christ  from  a  shell 
in  the  Baptist's  right  hand.  The  symbolic  dove  descends  directly  upon 
the  head  of  Jesus,  and  completes  the  baptismal  representation."" 

7)  A  fourth  mosaic  dating  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  was 
found  in  the  Santa  Maria,  in  Cosmedin,  Ravenna.  The  appearance  of 
Jesus  is  quite  youthful,  but  the  rough  camel's-hair  garment  w'orn  by 
John  is  plainly  apparent.  The  subject  of  baptism  is  in  water  up  to  the 
waist,  while  the  baptismal  element  is  applied  by  the  hand  to  the  head  ; 
and  the  dove  symbol  is  represented  as  in  descent  and  in  close  proximity 
to  the  one  baptized.'"^ 

The  evidence  derived  from  Christian  Art  literature  illus- 
trates three  important  particulars  relatino^  to  the 

883.  The  Evi-  ^  ^  ^ 

dence  from     history  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  Baptist's  place 

Christian  Art.     .      ,-,      ,   i  •   ^ 

m  that  history. 

1.  The  unity  of  the  fact  of  John's  mission  in  distinction 
from  the  accretions  of  the  ages  required  to  enter  into  the 
mythical  romances  representative  of  unhistorical  traditions. 

2.  The  original  transaction  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus  per- 
petuated by  independent  records  by  the  evangelists,  confirmed 
by  Josephus  and  Celsus  as  independent  proofs  and  continu- 
ously accepted  by  the  Church  as  a  capital  fact  connected  with 
the  origin  of  Christianity  itself,  and  centering  in  the  person- 
ality of  Christ — constitute  the  best  form  of  historical  evidence. 

3.  The  perpetuation  of  the  baptismal  event  in  Christian  art 
in  the  early  ages  of  Christian  history  places  beyond  contradic- 
tion the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures  which  re- 
cord Christ's  baptism  as  the  initiative  act  to  his  ministry,  and 
illustrate  John's  proper  place  in  the  historical  world. 

§84.  Summary. 

That  the  Baptist  was  the  contemporary  of  Jesus  whom  he 
baptized  is  affirmed  by  the  Evangelists ;  that  John  was  a  man 
of  noble  virtues,  whose  preaching  was  open  to  the  public,  im- 
posing "righteousness  toward  one  another  and  piety  towards 
God;"    that  he  was  imprisoned  by  Herod  Antipas  at  Ma- 

87  Bennett's  Archaeology,  p.  404,  Fig.  132.  ss  lb.  p.  405,  Fig.  133. 


Historical  Place  of  John  the  Baptist,  111 

chaerus,  and  by  his  order  put  to  death,  are  so  many  facts 
attested  by  Josephus,  the  famous  historian  of  the  Jews.  As  to 
the  antiquity  of  John's  life,  the  destructive  critic,  Strauss,  ad- 
mits the  absolute  correctness  of  Luke's  chronology.  It  was 
not,  of  course,  the  purpose  or  function  of  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity to  record  John's  special  relation  to  Jesus;  yet  Celsus 
distinctly  concedes  and  assumes  that  John  did  baptize  the 
Lord,  and  even  notes  with  a  taunt  the  circumstance  of  the 
dove,  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  and  abiding 
upon  Jesus  at  his  baptism.  The  baptismal  rite  itself  could 
have  no  other  characteristic  or  function  than  to  inaugurate 
Christ's  great  ministry  of  teaching,  self -manifestation,  and 
redemption,  as  taught  by  evangelist  and  apostle,  confirmed  by 
the  teaching  and  testimony  of  Justin  Martyr,  Clement  of  Al- 
exandria, Tertullian  of  Carthage,  and  Origen  of  Egypt  and 
Palestine,  and  illustrated  in  Christian  art.  The  chain  of  evi- 
dence is  complete  for  the  first  seven  hundred  years  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  Not  only  were  John  and 
Jesus  individually  historical  characters  and  contemporaries, 
but  both  are  at  a  remove  from  the  mythical  conceits  of  modern 
criticism,  whose  relation  to  each  other  is  substantiated  as  af- 
firmed in  the  several  Gospels. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  HISTORICAL  CHEIST  AND  ANCIENT 
CHRISTIANITY. 

I.  The  Christ  op  Christianity. 
II.  The  Doctrines  of  Christianity. 

III.  The  Institutions  op  Christianity. 

IV.  The  Christianity  of  Christ. 

113 


Chapter  Y. 

THE  HISTORICAL  CHRIST  AXD  AIs^CIENT 
CHRISTIAXITY. 

§85.    Sources:  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literature. 

1.  LrciAN  (120-200)  was  born  in  Samosata,  Syria,  and  floui-ished  in  the 

reign  of  Trajan  (98-117).  He  has  been  characterized  as  "a  bril- 
liant but  frivolous  rhetorician,"  ''  an  epicurean,  worldling,  and  in- 
fidel, .  .  .  who  could  see  in  Christianity  only  one  of  the 
vagaries  and  follies  of  mankind  ;  in  miracles  only  jugglery  ;  in  the 
belief  of  immortality  an  empty  dream ;  and  in  contempt  of  death 
and  brotherly  love  of  Christians  ...  a  silly  enthusiasm." 
(Schaff.)  In  a  letter  to  one  Chronis,  under  the  guise  of  a  narrative, 
he  represents  as  a  Christian  the  death  of  one  Proteus  or  Pere- 
grinus,  and  assails  the  Christians  and  their  religion  with  wit  and 
ridicule.  It  is  a  parody  and  fiction.  Lucian,  however,  admits 
that,  in  his  times,  the  Christian  people  were  worshipers  of  Christ. 
His  testimony  will  be  given  at  different  points  as  it  may  be  appro- 
priate. 

2.  Tacitus  (d.  110)  was  a  Roman  historian  of  fame  "who  ranks,  beyond 

dispute,  in  the  highest  place  among  men  of  letters  of  all  ages, 
who  lived  in  the  latter  half  of  the  first,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
second  century  of  our  era."  His  two  historical  works  known  now 
as  History  and  Annals  were  originally  but  one  work,  and  cover  a 
period  from  A.  D.  14  to  68.  "An  attempt  has  recently  been  made 
to  prove  that  the  Annals  are  a  forgery  by  Poggio  Bracciolini,  an 
Italian  scholar  of  the  fifteenth  century;  hut  their  genuinenees  is 
confirmed  by  the  agreement  in  various  minute  details  with  coins  and 
inscriptions  discovered  since  that  period.  [Besides]  Rudolphus,  a 
monk  of  the  monastery  of  Fulda,  in  Hesse-Cassel,  writing  in  the 
ninth  century,  says  that  Cornelius  Tacitus  speaks  of  a  river  known 
as  the  Weser  or  the  Yisurgis.  In  the  Annals,  as  they  have  come 
down  to  us,  we  find  the  Yisurgis  mentioned  five  times  in  the  first 
two  books  ;  whence  we  conclude  that  a  manuscript  of  them  was  in 
existence  in  the  ninth  century.  Add  to  this  the  testimony  of 
Jerome  [A.  D.  345-420],  that  Tacitus  wi-ote  in  thirty  books  the 
lives  of  the  Csesars,  and  the  evidence  of  style,  and  there  can  not 
be  much  doubt  that  in  the  Annals  we  have  a  genuine  work  of 
Tacitus."     "Much  of  the  history  of  that  period  must  have  been 

115 


116         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaiment. 

obscure  and  locked  up  in  the  emperor's  private  papers  and 
memoranda.  .  ,  ,  Tacitus,  as  a  man  of  good  social  position, 
no  doubt  had  access  to  the  best  information,  and  must  have  talked 
matters  over  vrith  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  day."  (Encyclo- 
psedia  Britannica,  Vol.  IX,  9th  ed.,  p.  25;  Phil'a.  See  Annals 
XV,  44.) 

3.  Clement  of  Rome,  the  earliest  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  otherwise 

known  as  the  immediate  pupils  and  successors  of  the  apostles. 
Clement  is  said  to  have  succeeded  Linus,  as  second  Bishop  of 
Rome,  in  the  year  67,  or  Cletus  (Anacletus)  as  third  Bishop,  in 
91,  holding  the  office  for  nine  years,  and  died  in  100.  He  vprote 
a  letter  in  the  name  of  the  vrhole  Church  at  Rome  to  the  Co- 
rinthians to  compose  certain  dissensions  among  them  about  the 
authorities  placed  over  them  by  the  appointment  of  the  apostles. 
It  was  written  either  about  64,  or  soon  after  the  persecution 
of  Nero,  or  in  94,  or  95,  just  after  the  persecutions  under  Domi- 
tian.  He  is  placed  in  the  catalogue  of  martyrs ;  but  it  is  quite  as 
probable  that  he  died  a  natural  death  in  the  third  year  of  the 
reign  of  Trajan,  A.  D.  100.  He  is  understood  to  be  identical  with 
the  person  referred  to  by  Paul,  who  mentions  ^^  Clement  also,  and 
with  other  my  fellow-laborers,  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life." 
(Philipp.  iv,  3.)  He  cites  passages  from  the  Gospels  of  Matthew 
and  Luke ;  also  from  Paul's  Epistles. 

4.  Aristides  (Marcianus)  was  a  philosopher  of  Athens  mentioned  by 

Eusebius  (E.  H.  iv,  c.  3)  as  the  contemporary  of  Quadratus.  He 
describes  him  as  a  "  faithful  man  of  our  religion,  who  left  an 
Apology  of  our  Faith,  as  Quadratus  did,  addressed  to  Hadrian 
(who  reigned  117-138).  Jerome  confirms  Eusebius,  and  relates 
that  after  Aristides  became  a  Christian,  he  still  continued  to  wear 
the  garb  of  a  philosopher,  and  that  he  presented  to  Hadrian  "  a 
book  containing  an  account  of  our  sect ;  that  is,  an  Apology  for  the 
Christians,  which  is  still  extant,  a  monument  with  the  learned  of 
his  ingenuity."     {De  Illustribus  Viris,  I,  20.) 

This  work  of  Aristides  was  lost  for  many  centuries,  but  was 
recently  discovered  in  complete  form.  An  Armenian  translation 
found  in  1878  was  the  first  document  covering  the  Apology  brought 
to  light.  This  copy  R^nan,  with  his  characteristic  repugnance  to 
Christianity,  at  once  denounced  as  spurious.  But  in  1889,  Rendel 
Harris,  of  Philadelphia,  while  traveling  in  Syria,  discovered  at  St. 
Catherine,  at  Mt.  Sinai,  a  Syrian  manuscript  containing  a  transla- 
tion of  the  long  lost  Apology  of  Aristides.  Its  accordancy  with 
the  Armenian  document  is  such  as  completely  substantiates  the 
identity  and  authenticity  of  this  Apology.  But  there  is  a  curious 
discrepancy  in  that  the  Syrian  MS.  makes  it  clear  that  the  docu- 
ment was  addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius  (emperor  139-161)  instead 


The  Histokical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     117 

of  Hadrian  (117-138),  according  to  the  Armenian  document, 
Eusebius,  and  Jerome.  "  Now,  this  name  is  otherwise  known 
as  that  of  a  Christian  of  great  authority  in  Smyrna,  living  about 
A.  D.  138-140."  (Cruttwell,  Literary  Hist,  of  Early  Christianity , 
Vol.  I,  292.)  This  whole  Apology  was  found  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred into  an  old  Latin  romance  found  at  Vienna  by  Armitage 
Robinson,  editor  of  the  "  Cambridge  Texts  and  Studies  contribut- 
ing to  the  illustration  of  Biblical  Literature."  The  romance  was 
designated  History  of  Barlaam  and  Joseph  {or  Josephat).  Aristides's 
Apology  contains  an  eai'ly  formulation  of  the  "Apostles'  Creed," 
though  not  quite  complete. 

5.  Porphyry  was  a  Phoenician,  born  at  Tyre,  about  238,  in  the  reign  of 

Alexander  Severus,  and  is  said  to  have  descended  from  a  noble 
ancestry  who  were  kings.  His  name  means  purple,  which  was  the 
kingly  robe.  Jerome  and  Chrysostom  call  his  name  Bataneotes. 
In  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Socrates  he  is  said  to  have  once 
been  a  Christian,  but  that  having  received  a  beating  by  some 
Christians  in  Palestine,  he  apostatized  out  of  resentment  and 
mortification.  About  A.  D.  270,  Porphyry  wrote  a  work  against 
the  Christians  in  fifteen  books,  only  fragments  of  which  are  now 
extant.  Apollinaris  of  Syria  elaborately  refuted  Porphyry's  work. 
A  letter  of  Censtantine,  written  soon  after  the  Council  of  Nice  in 
825,  refers  to  "  Porphyry,  that  enemy  of  true  piety,  who  has  re- 
ceived a  fit  reward  for  his  impious  writings  against  religion,  so 
that  he  is  made  infamous  to  all  future  times,  and  covered  with 
reproach,  and  his  impious  writings  have  been  destroyed."  Never- 
theless, in  449,  by  the  edict  of  Theodosius  the  Younger,  Porphyry's 
writings  were  abolished ;  which  would  indicate  that  some  copies 
had  escaped  the  flames.  (See  also  Eusebius,  Eccl.  Hist.  VI,  c. 
19,  pp.  224,  225.)  His  fragments  against  the  Christians  which 
remain  are  of  evidential  value  and  service  now  in  respect  to  the 
early  origin  and  historicity  of  the  New  Testament. 

6.  Pliny  the  Younger  (61-116)  was  nephew  of  Pliny  the  elder,  who 

was  the  author  of  a  work  on  Natural  History.  The  junior  Pliny 
was  adopted  into  the  imperial  family  by  his  uncle,  and  educated 
to  be  an  advocate  of  the  law.  He  was  born  of  noble  ancestry. 
He  studied  rhetoric  under  the  best  masters  of  Rome,  among 
whom  was  Quintilian.  It  is  related  that  he  composed  a  Greek 
tragedy  in  his  youth,  and  that  he  spoke  at  the  forum  at  the  age 
of  nineteen.  He  had  also  notable  friends.  Tacitus  and  he  were 
intimates  and  correspondents,  and  Pliny  became  a  gi-eat  favorite 
with  the  Emperor  Trajan.  During  the  last  decade  of  the  first 
century  he  was  appointed  to  a  number  of  public  ofiices  in  the 
empire,  and  seems  to  have  conducted  their  affairs  with  success 
and  approval.     He  occupied  the  position  of  proconsul  of  Bithynia 


118         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


and  Pontus  in  Asia  Minor,  109-111  A.  D.  He  was  the  author  of 
ten  books,  the  last  of  which  contains  his  famous  correspondence 
with  the  emperor  respecting  the  pei-secutions  of  the  Christians  resi- 
dent in  the  province  which  he  ruled.    His  testimony  is  invaluable. 

7.  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  (Emp.  161-180)  was  a  Stoic  philosopher, 
born  at  the  capital  121  A.  D.,  and  died  180.  He  was  well  edu- 
cated. Antoninus  Pius,  his  predecessor  in  the  imperial  office, 
adopted  him  in  his  family.  His  philosophy  as  a  Stoic  disqualified 
him  to  understand  the  character  and  sufferings  of  the  Christians, 
whose  religion  he  treated  with  scorn.  Apologies  were  tendered 
to  him  as  emperor  by  Melito,  Miltiades,  Athanagoras,  and  others, 
in  behalf  of  his  Christian  subjects,  on  account  of  the  persecutions 
which  raged  during  his  reign.  He  was  devoted  to  the  gods  of 
the  State.  Believing  that  at  death  we  are  absorbed  into  the 
essence  of  the  Deity,  he  utterly  rejected  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  immortality.  Dr.  Jortin  observes:  "  The  Emperor  Marcus  was 
prejudiced  against  the  Christians,  and  in  his  book  .  .  .  cen- 
sures very  unreasonably  what  he  ought  to  have  approved, — this 
readiness  and  resolution  to  die  for  their  religion."  {Truth  of  the 
Christian  Religion,  p.  57.)  Aurelius  wrote:  "  What  a  soul  that  is 
which  is  ready  if  at  any  moment  it  must  be  separated  from  the  body, 
and  is  ready  either  to  be  extinguished,  or  dispersed,  or  continued 
to  exist;  but  only  so  that  this  readiness  [to  die]  comes  from  a 
man's  own  judgment  not  from  sheer  obstinacy  as  with  the  Christians, 
[fii]  /carol  \l/i\r]v  irapdra^iv,  litei'ally,  "Not  according  to  naked  dis- 
cipline as  with  the  Christians"],  but  considerately  and  with 
dignity,  and  in  a  way  to  persuade  another  without  scenic  display 
arpayifdw^,  untragically ,  without  noise  or  fuss.     {Meditat.  xi,  3.) 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  remarks:  "  The  empire  was  visited  at  that 
time  by  a  number  of  conflagrations,  a  destructive  flood  of  the 
Tiber,  an  earthquake,  insurrections,  and  particularly  a  pestilence 
which  spread  from  Ethiopia  to  Gaul.  This  gave  rise  to  bloody 
persecutions  in  which  the  government  and  people  united  against 
the  enemies  of  the  gods  and  the  supposed  authors  of  these  mis- 
fortunes."    {Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  II,  55.) 

8.  CoNSTANTiNE  THE  Great  (247-337),  the  first  Christian  emperor  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Though  favorable  to  Christianity,  he  did  not 
himself  pi-ofess  to  be  a  Christian  until  a  week  before  his  death, 
when  he  was  baptized.  By  degrees  he  introduced  the  Christian 
religion  as  the  religion  of  the  State,  between  A.  D.  311  and  325. 
**  The  first  Edict  of  Toleration,  A.  D.  311,  made  an  end  of  persecu- 
tions ;  the  second  Edict  of  Toleration,  313  (there  was  no  third), 
prepared  the  way  for  legal  recognition  and  protection  ;  the  Nicene 
Council,  325,  marks  the  solemn  inauguration  of  the  imperial  State 
Church."     (Schaff's  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  II,  Preface,  p.  5.) 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     119 

9.  DiDACHE,  or  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  wi-itten  A.  D. 

70-100.  This  is  a  most  interesting  document  in  Christian  crit- 
icism. Its  opening  sentence  reads:  ''''Teaching  of  the  Lord  by  the 
Twelve  Apostles  to  the  Nations."  Its  evidential  value  is  of  supreme 
importance.  For  full  description  of  the  document  and  its  con- 
tents, see  Appendix,  Excursus  D. 

10.  John  Stuart  Mill  was  of  Scottish  blood,  born  at  London  in  1806. 

He  pursued  his  collegiate  studies  solely  under  the  instructions 
of  his  own  father,  and  early  mastered  the  classics  and  higher 
mathematics.  He  says  of  himself  that  he  could  not  remember 
the  time  when  he  could  not  read  Greek ;  but  was  told  that  he  be- 
gan the  study  when  he  was  but  three  years  old  !  Unquestionably 
Mill  possessed  an  extraordinarily  precocious  mind.  He  seems  to 
have  been  as  remarkable  for  the  utter  deficiency  of  a  religious 
nature.  He  claimed  to  have  never  had  a  religious  belief.  Ac- 
cordingly he  was  a  practical  Atheist.  His  best  known  works  are 
his  Autobiography ,  and  his  Three  Essays  on  Theism.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  1873.     Among  his  last  utterances  was  this : 

"About  the  life  and  sayings  of  Jesus  there  is  a  stamp  of  origin- 
ality, combined  with  a  profundity  of  insight,  which,  if  we  abandon 
the  idle  expectation  of  finding  scientific  precision  where  something 
very  different  was  aimed  at,  must  place  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth, 
even  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  have  no  belief  in  his  inspira- 
tion, in  the  very  first  rank  of  men  of  sublime  genius  of  whom  our 
species  can  boast.  .  .  .  Nor  even  now  would  it  be  easy  even 
for  an  unbeliever  to  find  a  better  translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue 
from  the  abstract  into  the  concrete  than  to  endeavor  so  to  live  that 
Christ  would  approve  our  life." 

The  Christ  and  Christianity. 

Eabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  Teacher  come  from  God. — Nioodemus. 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  carried  forward  morality  to  the  sublimest  point 
attained  or  attainable  by  humanity.  The  influence  of  spiritual 
religion  has  been  rendered  doubly  gi'eat  by  the  unparalleled  purity 
and  elevation  of  his  own  character. — "Supernatural  Religion" 
(Anonymous)  . 

Repose  now  in  thy  glory,  noble  Founder !  Fear  no  more  to  see  the  edi- 
fice of  thy  labors  fall  by  any  fault.  Thou  shalt  become  the  Corner- 
stone of  humanity  so  entirely  that  to  tear  thy  name  from  this 
world  would  rend  it  to  its  foundation. — Renan. 

Yes,  if  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were  those  of  a  sage,  the  life  and 
death  of  Jesus  were  those  of  a  God ;  and  the  history  of  Socrates, 
which  no  one  doubts,  is  not  as  well  attested  as  that  of  Jesua 
Christ. — Rousseau. 


120         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  reserved  for  Christianity  to  present  to  the  world  an  ideal  character 
which,  through  all  the  ages  of  eighteen  centuries,  has  inspired 
the  hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned  love,  has  shown  itself  capa- 
ble of  acting  on  all  ages,  nations,  temperaments,  and  conditions. 
.  .  .  In  three  short  years  of  his  active  life,  Jesus  has  done  more 
to  regenerate  and  soften  mankind  than  all  the  disquisitions  of 
philosophers  and  all  the  exhortations  of  moralists. — Lecky. 

As  little  as  humanity  will  ever  be  without  religion,  as  little  will  it  be 
without  Christ ;  for  to  have  religion  without  Christ  is  absurd.  .  .  . 
And  this  Christ,  so  far  as  he  is  separable  from  the  highest  style  of 
religion,  is  historical,  not  mythical. — Strauss. 

It  is  no  use  to  say  that  Christ  as  exhibited  in  the  Gospels  is  not  his- 
torical.— J.  S.  Mill. 

ARGUMENT. 

Jesus  Christ  being  inducted  into  his  unique  ministry  by  baptism,  leads 
to  the  consideration  of  his  special  function  as  the  great  Teacher  of 
men,  and  the  Founder  of  Christianity.  In  these  offices  he  has 
been  distinctly  recognized  by  both  friends  and  foes  of  the  Christian 
religion.  That  the  system  which  originated  in  him  had  an  histor- 
ical basis  is  evidenced,  not  only  by  universal  testimony,  but  by  the 
very  doctrines  he  taught  and  by  the  institutions  he  founded,  which 
have  been  perpetuated  through  all  the  ages  since,  and  transmitted 
to  us.  We  now  find  them  to  be  identical  with  the  tenets  main- 
tained throughout  Christendom.  By  such  means  the  historical  an- 
tiquity and  authenticity  of  the  Christian  religion  are  demonsti'ated, 

1.  The  Christ  of  Christianity. 

2.  The  Doctrines  of  Christianity. 

3.  The  Institutions  of  Chi'istianity. 

4.  The  Christianity  of  Christ. 

THE  UNIQUE  MINISTRY  OP  CHRIST. 

As  Jesus  himself  was  not  a  sinner,^  it  is  not  needful  that  he 
should  be  baptized  as  others  were,  to  make  public  confession  of 
S86  His  In-  sin  and  reformation  of  life.  John's  surprise  and 
auguration,  hesitation  to  perform  the  rite  in  this  case  was 
most  natural.  He  said,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee, 
and  comest  thou  to  me/"  Jesus  replied,  "Suffer  it  to  be  so 
now,  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Then 
he  suffered  him."^  What  wrought  this  change  in  the  con- 
sciousness and  purpose  of  John?  Obviously  he  discovered  a 
deeper  and  special  sense  in  the  words,  "/;{ hecometh  us  to  fulfill 

I  John  vUl,  46;  1  Pet.  1,  19;  11,  22;  2  Cor.  v,  21;  Heb.  lv,15.        «Matt.  Ill,  14, 15. 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     121 

all  righteousness^'"'  as  apart  from  the  confession  of  sin.  The 
rite  administered,  by  the  Forerunner  as  an  initiative  act  would 
serve  to  place  Jesus  in  public  recognition  by  his  example,  as 
within  touch  and  sympathy  with  all  who  were  truly  penitent; 
the  "  One  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;"  and  by  the 
Spirit's  descent  upon  him  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  the  voice 
from  heaven  announcing  him  as  the  "  well-beloved  Son,"  would 
complete  the  identification,  and  emphasize  the  fact  that  Jesus 
was  hereby  entering  upon  his  Messianic  ministry. 

Christ  united  in  himself  all  the  functions  of  a  leader  of 
thought,  a  teacher  of  truth,  and  a  preacher  of  righteousness. 
These  hiffh  qualities  he  so  exampled  as  to  iustifv 

°      ^  ^  **  -^      8  87.  Func- 

their  recognition  by  both  friends  and   foes  of    tionsofms 
Christianity.     This  fact  finds  support,  if  not  abso-         mstry. 
lute  verification  on  the  part  of  inveterate  enemies,  in  Christ's 
life  as  well  as  in  the  first  centuries  after  his  death;  and  their 
testimony  may  be  cited,  not  because  their  opinions  of  Jesus 
are  evidential,  but  because  their  concessions  of  fact  are  invalu- 
able.    His  instructions  were  so  original  and  forceful — so  unlike 
the  scribes' — so  powerful  in  address,  so  lasting  in  impression, 
that  his  teaching  was  an  astonishment  to  the  people.     When 
Jesus  had  concluded  his  discourse  upon  the  mountains,  "  the 
multitudes  were  astonished  at  his  teaching,  for  he  taught  them 
as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes."     When  the 
officers  of  the  Sanhedrin  were  sent  to  arrest  Jesus,  they  returned 
without  the  intended  prisoner,  saying,  "Never  man  so  spake." ^ 
Celsus  especially  makes  much  of  Jesus  in  respect  to  the  three 
functions  of  his  ministry:  as  a  Leader,  Teacher,   „qq  jesusas 
and  Preacher.     He  assumes  rather  than  affirms      a  Leader, 
these  functions  and  prerogatives  as  characteristics  of  Christ's 
work.     He  says : 

"No  good  general  and  leader  .  .  .  was  ever  betrayed,  nor  even  a 
wicked  captain  of  robbers,"  .  .  .  [but]  Jesus,  failing  to  acquire 
"the  good-will"  of  his  disciples,  proved  himself  inferior  to  "a  brigand 
chief !"^     "If  you    should   tell   them    that  Jesus  is  not  the   Son  of 

8  John  vll,  46.       *  Origen  adv.  Celsum,  li,  12. 


122         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

God  .  .  .  they  would  not  consent  to  discontinue  their  worship  of 
him  who  is  their  Leader  in  the  sedition."  ^  "  For  they  descend  from  the 
same  original,  and  they  have  received  their  Master  and  Leader  from  the 
same  country,  and  yet  have  revolted  from  the  Jews."^ 

Origen,  replying  to  Celsus,  says : 

"  Celsus.  .  .  .  proceeds  .  .  .  to  speak  of  our  Savior  as  having 
been  the  Leader  of  our  generation  in  so  far  as  we  are  Christians."  ^ 

Suetonius,  also  referring  to  Christ's  leadership,  says: 

"Claudius  banished  from  Rome  those  who  were  continually  making 
disturbances,  Christ  being  their  Leader."^ 

Celsus  and  others  refer  to  Jesus  also  as  the  great  Teacher  of 
the  Christian  world.     He  says: 

Christ's  associates  "shared  all  things  in  common,  and  had  him  for 

their  Teacher  who  was  deemed  to  be  a  Savior  and  Son  of  the  greatest 

God."  ^    "In  the  next  place,  those  who  were  his  associates 

§89.  Jesus  as     ^]^iie  alive,  and  who  listened  to  his  voice,  and  enjoyed  his 

eac  er.  instructions,  on  seeing  him  subjected  to  death,"  i"  etc. 
"Let  us  pass  over  the  refutations  which  he  adduced  against  the  claims 
of  their  Teacher.""  "A  few  years  ago  he  began  to  teach  this  doctrine, 
being  regarded  as  the  Son  of  God." 

Origen,  replying,  says :  Christ  "  our  Superintendent,  then, 
and  Teacher,  having  come  forth  from  the  Jetvs,  regulates  the 
whole  world  by  the  word  of  his  teaching;"^  and  Josephus 
mentions  "Jesus,  a  wise  man,  ...  a  Teacher  of  such  as 
receive  the  truth  with  pleasure."  ^ 

Celsus  thus  refers  to  XhQ preaching  of  our  Lord: 

"While  he  was  in  the  body  and  no  one  believed  on  him,  he  preached 
to  all  without  intermission.""     "The   man  of  Nazareth  promulgated 

laws  quite  opposed  to  these  [of  Moses],  declaring  that  no 
§  90.  Jesus  as     ^^^  ^^^  come  to  the  Father  who  loves  power,  or  riches, 

or  glory ;  that  men  ought  not  to  be  more  careful  in  pro- 
viding food  than  the  ravens ;  that  they  were  to  be  less  concerned  about 
their  raiment  than  the  lilies ;  that  to  him  who  has  given  them  one  blow, 
they  should  offer  to  receive  another."^* 

The  testimonies  of  Celsus,  Suetonius,  and  Origen  concur 
in  representing  Jesus  Christ  as  the  gra^it  Leader  of  men;  of 
Celsus,  Josephus,  and  Origen  as  their  greatest  Teacher ;  while 

6  Origen  adv.  Celsum,  vlll,  14.      •  i6.,  v.  38;  Lard,  vll,  254.  '  Th.,  1,  26. 

»Li/eo/ Claudius,  25.  » Cels.,  li,9.  m//,.,  11,45.  ii/6.,v,52. 

M/6.,  1,  26;  V,  33.  ^»Ant.,  xvlU,  3,  8.        "  Ccls.,  11,  70.        I6/5.,  yil,  18. 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     123 

Celsus  alone,  with  some  perversity  and  prejudice,  clearly  con- 
cedes and  substantiates  the  fact  of  his  preaching^  by  referring 
directly  to  points  and  passages  found  in  Christ's  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  These  qualities  and  characteristics,  then,  sufficiently 
represent  his  ministry.  But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  conceivable 
at  least  that  Jesus  might  have  led  men,  taught  the  truth,  and 
preached  salvation,  without  securing  any  permanent  success  in 
the  world.  John,  in  a  more  restricted  sense,  exercised  these 
same  prerogatives,  but  left  no  system  behind  him. 

But  Jesus  was  the  Founder  of  Christianity.  Powerfully  did 
he  reason  with  men ;  but  he  wrote  no  books  to  perpetuate  the 
argument.  Yet  he  wrought  the  deepest  and  most  g  g^  jesusas 
enduring  convictions  in  the  spiritual  nature, —  Founder, 
convictions  of  sinfulness,  of  escape  made  certain;  and  to  the 
believing  he  brought  a  present  comfort  in  cleansing,  and  for 
the  future  a  boundless  hope  of  happiness  in  the  life  after  death. 
That  Christ  did  found  the  religion  which  bears  his  name,  is 
that  which  is  either  affirmed  or  conceded  by  adversaries,  both 
ancient  and  modern. 

a)  Tacitus  testifies  that — 

"Christ,  THE  Founder  op  that  name,  had  been  put  to  death  as  a 
criminal  by  Pontius  Pilate,  the  procurator  of  Judsea,  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  [Caesar]."  ^^ 

/3)  Lucian:  "They  therefore  still  worship  that  great  man  who  was 
crucified  in  Palestine,  because  he  introduced  into  the  world  this  new  religion. 
Moreover,  their  fiirst  Lawgiver  taught  them  that  they  are  all  brethren 
when  once  they  have  turned  and  renounced  the  gods  of  the  Greeks,  and 
worship  that  Master  of  theirs  who  was  crucified,  and  engage  to  live  ac- 
cording to  his  laws."  " 

y)  Among  the  modern  rationalists  and  adversaries  of  Chris- 
tianity is  Strauss,  who  says : 

"As  little  as  humanity  will  be  without  religion,  as  little  will  it  be 
without  Christ.  .  .  .  He  remains  the  highest  model  of  religion 
within  the  range  of  our  thought ;  and  no  perfect  piety  is  possible  with- 
out his  presence  in  the  heart.  To  the  historical  person  of  Christ  be- 
longs all  in  his  life  that  exhibits  his  religious  perfection,  his  religious 
discourses,  his  moral  action,  and  his  [wonderful]  passion."^ 

^^  Annals,  xv,  44.  "  Peregrinus,  cited  by  Lard,  vll,  279, 280. 

^^Essay,  in  Ainer.  Tract  Society,  p.  308. 


124         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

8)  Lecky,  a  rationalist  skeptic,  but  one  of  the  fairest  and 

ablest  of  modern  historians,  says : 

"  It  may  be  truly  said  that  the  simple  record  of  three  short  years  of 
[Christ's]  active  life  has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  soften  mankind 
than  all  the  disquisitions  of  philosophers  and  all  the  exhortations  of 
moralists.  This  has  indeed  been  the  wellspring  of  whatever  is  best  and 
purest  in  Christian  life.  And  amid  all  the  sins  and  failings,  amid  all 
the  priestcraft  and  persecution  and  fanaticism  that  have  defaced  the 
Church,  it  has  preserved,  in  the  character  and  example  of  its  Founder, 
an  enduring  principle  of  regeneration."  ^^ 

c)  Renan  addresses  this  apostrophe  to  Jesus  at  his  sep- 

ulcher : 

"Repose  now  in  thy  glory,  noble  Founder!  Fear  no  more  to  see 
the  edifice  of  thy  labors  fall  by  any  fault.  Henceforth,  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  frailty,  thou  shalt  witness  from  the  heights  of  divine 
peace  the  infinite  results  of  thy  acts.  ...  A  thousand  times  more  alive, 
a  thousand  times  more  beloved,  since  thy  death  than  during  thy  passage 
here  below,  thou  shalt  become  the  corner-stone  of  humanity  so  entirely, 
that  to  tear  thy  name  from  this  world,  would  be  to  rend  it  to  its  founda- 
tions. Between  thee  and  God  there  is  no  longer  any  distinction !  Com- 
plete Conquerer  of  Death !  take  possession  of  thy  kingdom,  whither  shall 
follow  thee,  by  the  royal  road  which  thou  hast  traced,  ages  of  wor- 
shipers!" 2" 

§  92.  Conflrmations  by  Ancient  Christian  Writers. 

1.  Clement  of  Rome,  the  contemporary  and  fellow-laboi*er  of  Pau), 
says:  "The  apostles  received  the  gospel  for  us  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  21 

2  Ai-istides  (123) :  "  The  Christians  reckon  the  beginning  of  their  re- 
ligion from  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  named  the  Son  of  God,  the  Most  High."  ^ 

3.  Tertullian  (200):  "Tiberius,  accordingly,  in  whose  days  the 
Christian  name  made  its  entry  into  the  world.  .  .  .  We  date  the  origin 
of  our  religion,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  from  the  reign  of  Tiberius. 
We  have  set  forth  this  origin  of  our  sect  and  name,  with  this  account  of 
the  founder  of  Christianity."  ^ 

The  historical  evidence  of  the  beginning  of  Christianity 
needs  to  be  traversed  no  further  to  find  its  Founder.  This  line 
of  proof  substantiates  the  character  and  functions  engaged  in 
Christ's  Messianic  ministry :  His  leadership,  by  which  so  many 
people  coming  in  contact  were  immediately  attracted  to  his 

i«  Hist.  Europ.  Morals,  Eng.  ed.  li,  9.  «>Ld/e  of  Christ,  1866,  p.  851. 

s'  Llghtfoot's  transl.  of  Epls.  to  Cor.,  c.  42. 
v^Apolofjy,  first  eel.  «'Tertull.,  Apology,  cc.  6,  7,  21. 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     125 

person  and  became  his  followers;  his  teaching,  by  means  of 
which  they  were  instructed  in  all  spiritual  truth  as  the  Eevealer 
of  God ;  his  preaching,  by  which  he  appealed  to  their  spiritual 
conscience  and  inspired  the  believing  with  the  new  hope  of 
life  and  immortality  brought  to  light  through  the  Gospel. 
The  Christian  writers  adduced,  not  only  confirm  the  testimony 
of  the  ancient  adversaries,  but  carry  back  those  same  facts 
through  the  line  of  Christian  history  to  the  very  apostles,  and 
recognize  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Divine  Source.  Modern  criti- 
cisms of  the  rationalistic  and  destructive  school  reach  the  same 
conclusion,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  exalt  and  glorify  Jesus  as  ; 
the  Founder  of  the  Christian  faith.  Even  the  mention  of  ! 
Jesus  thus  in  relation  to  his  work,  without  any  attempt  to 
refute  the  facts,  which  rather  the  adversaries  fully  concede, 
makes  powerfully  for  the  antiquity  of  the  period,  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  account,  and  the  historicity  of  the  Gospels. 

The  Doctrines  of  Christianity. 

We  pass  from  the  Ministry  of  Christ  to  his  Doctrines.  It 
is  evident  that  the  pagan  writers  of  that  period  had  also 
remarkable  familiarity  with  the  Christian  teachings.  Their 
frequent  reference  to  them,  even  derisively,  proves,  from  their 
standpoint  of  disbelief,  that  the  Christian  doctrines  synchro- 
nize with  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  that  the  teachings  of 
to-day  are  identical  with  those  of  the  New  Testament.  These 
may  be  briefly  indicated. 

o)  Celsus :  "  You,  O  sincere  believers,  find  fault  with  us,  because  we 
do  not  recognize  this  individual  [Christ]  as  God,  nor  agree  with  you  that 
he  endured  these  [sufferings]  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 
It  was  to  sinners  that  God  has  been  sent;"  "who  was    ^^^•^^®^*^* 
deemed  to  be  a  Savior,  and  the  Son  of  the  greatest  God."  Death. 

"  I  am  God ;  or  I  am  the  Son  of  God.  ...  I  have  come 
because  the  world  is  perishing;  and  you,  O  men,  are  perishing  for  your 
iniquities.    But  I  wish  to  save  you  ;  and  ye  shall  see  me  returning  again 
with  heavenly  power.    Blessed  is  he  who  does  me  homage."     "  O  Jews 
and  Christians,  no  God  nor  Son  of  God,  either  came  or  will  come  down 


*  On  Benefits  of  Christ's  Death,  etc.    See  Rom.  lii,  26;  v,  6,  8, 11;  xlv,  8,  9;  2  Cor. 
V,  1.5;  1  Cor.  xv,  3;  1  Thess.  v,  10;  1, 10;  Tit.  11, 14;  Gal.  Iv,  4,  5. 


126         HiSTOEicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

[from  heaven]  to  mankind. 2*  Again  if  God,  like  Jupiter  in  the  comedy, 
should,  on  awakening  from  his  lengthened  slumber,  desire  to  rescue  the 
human  race  from  evil,  why  did  he  send  this  Spirit,  of  which  you  speak, 
into  one  corner  [of  the  earth]?  ...  Do  you  not  think  that  you  have 
made  the  Son  of  God  more  ridiculous  in  sending  him  to  the  Jews  ?"  ^ 

P)  Toledoth  Jeshu  says  that  Jesus  taught  that  his  blood  atoned  for 
the  sins  of  mankind ;  that  he  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  and  all 
they  contain ;  that  he  appropriated  to  himself  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah:  "He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions;  he  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities,"  etc.  He  also  applied  to  himself  Psalm  ex:  "The 
Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  until  I  make  thine 
enemies  thy  footstool,"  etc. 

7)  Porphyry  ;  "  If  Christ,  as  he  says,  be  the  way  of  salvation  and  the 
life,  and  only  they  who  believe  on  him  can  be  saved,  what  became  of  the 
men  who  lived  before  his  coming  ?"  ^s 

Celsus:  "Also,  those  who  are  long  since  dead  which  will  arise  from 
the  earth  clothed  with  the  self -same  flesh  [as  during  this  life] ;  for  such 
a  hope  is  simply  one  which  might  be  cherished  by  worms." ^ 
§94.  Resur-      <<  p^j,^  what  sort  of  a  soul  is  that  which  would  still  long 
Human  Body*   for  a  body  that  has  been  subject  to  corruption  ?     Whence 
also  this  opinion  of  yours  [which]  is  not  shared  by  some 
of  the  Christians,  and  they  pronounce  it  to  be  exceeding  vile  and  loath- 
some, and  impossible?    For  what  kind  of  a  body  is  that  which,  after 
being  completely  corrupted,  can  return  to  its  original  nature,  and  to  that 
self-same  first  condition  out  of  which  it  fell  into  dissolution  ?    Being 
unable  to  return  any  answer,  they  betake  themselves  to  a  most  absurd 
refuge ;  viz.,  that  all  things  are  possible  to  God."  ^ 

Lucian :    "  For  these  miserable  men  have  no  doubt 
S  ®5.  Immor-    ^j^^^.   ^j^gy  ^y^^^  ^^  immortal  and  live  forever.     There- 
Human  Spirit  ^^^"^  they  contemn  death,  and  many  surrender  them- 
selves to  sufferings."^ 
Celsus:  "  But  my  prophet  once  declared  in  Jerusalem  that  the  Son 
of  God  will  come  as  the  Judge  of  the  righteous,  and  Punisher  of  the 
wicked."^    "  And  those  who  know  not  the  punishments 
§96.  Judg-     ^hich  await  them  will  repent  and  gi'ieve  in  vain;  while 
World         those  who  are  faithful  to  me,  I  will  preserve  eternally, 
.  .  .  but  they  give  occasion  to  every  fool  or  impostor  to 
apply  them  to  suit  his  own  purposes."  ^^ 

Porphyry:  "  Christ  threatens  everlasting  punishment 
§97.  Final     ^q  those  who  do  not  believe  in  him;  and  yet  in  another 

v".^    T°^^^      place  he  says,  '  With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be 
of  the  Incor-    ^  ,  ..,.,.,         j         I  .-,. 

rigible.        measured  to  you  again,   which  is  absurd  and  contradic- 

tory  ;  for  all  measures  must  be  limited  to  time."^^ 

*  Rom.  vlU,  11,22,  23;   Philip,  ill,  21;   Eph.  v,  23. 

a^Cf^s.  11,38;   111,62;   11,9;   vil,  9;  V,  2,  3.  ^i>  Cels.\i,7H. 

««  Cited  by  Lard,  vli,  43!);  of.  John  xlv,  6.  «'  Crl.i.  v,  14.  ffKuXriKuv    iXirls. 

^  Cels.  \,li;  comp.  Mutt,  xix,  2(5;  Murk  x,  27.      ^  I^ird.  vll,  280. 

»  Cels.  1,  49.  »Wels.  vll,  9.  »  Lard,  vll,  440,  441. 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     127 

Celsus:  "It  is  folly  on  their  part  to  suppose  that  when  God,  as  if 
he  were  a  cook,  introduces  the  fire  [which  is  to  consume    §98.  Confla- 
the  world],  all  the  rest  of  the  human  race  will  be  burned   nation  of  the 
up,  while  they  [the  good]  alone  will  remain.     'On  all       Last  Day. 
the  rest  will  I  send  down  eternal  fire,  both  on  cities  and  on  countries.'  "  ^ 

Many  of  these  representations  of  Christian  doctrine  are 
extremely  crude,  or  much  perverted,  or  both,  Nevertheless, 
these  adversaries  were  untrained  in  Christian  truth,  and  very 
hostile  to  the  Christian  faith.  But,  despite  these  faulty  repre- 
sentations, the  direct  references  to  the  doctrines  themselves 
prove  the  earlier  antiquity  and  historicity  of  these  teachings 
found  in  the  [New  Testament. 

Institutions  of  Christiajnity, 

a)  Julian:   "  That  some  of  those  [Christians]  who  at  the  beginning 
received  the  word  from  Paul  were  such,  is  apparent  from  what  Paul  him- 
self says  writing  to  them:  .  .  .  'And  you  are  not  ignorant, 
brethren,  that  such  were  you  also.    But  ye  are  washed;     of  Baotism 
but  ye  were  sanctified  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.'  "^ 
"  You  see  [that  he  says  that]  they  were  washed,  having  been  washed 
and  scoured  with  water  that  penetrates  even  to  the  soul.     And  baptism 
which  can  not  heal  the  leprosy,  nor  the  gout,  nor  the  dysentery,  nor  any 
other  distemper  of  the  body,  takes  away  adulteries,  extortions,  and  all 
other  sins  of  the  soul  I"  ^    "  Whosoever  is  a  ravisher,  a  murderer,  guilty 
of  sacrilege,  or  any  other  abomination,  let  him  come  boldly,  for  when  I 
have  washed  him  with  this  water  I  will  immediately  make  him  clean  and 
innocent ;  and  if  he  commits  the  same  crimes  again,  I  will  make  him  as 
clean  as  before,  after  he  has  thumped  his  breast  and  beat  his  head  !"^ 

"  I  desire  not  to  hear  so  much  of  any  service  of  yours,  as  that  you 
have  expelled  the  wicked  Athanasius  [a  Christian  bishop,  A.  D.  326]  out 
of  Egypt,  who,  under  my  government,  has  been  so  audacious  as  to  per- 
suade Greek  women,  wives  of  illustrious  men,  to  receive  baptism  !"  ^'' 

B)  The  Didache  or  the  invaluable  document, 

.     '^''  ,  '     §  100.  Conflr- 

titled  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,*  which  dates   mation  by  the 

A.  D.  70-100,  furnishes  absolute  confirmation  of 

the  fact  and  early  usage  of  baptism  as  a  Christian  institution : 

"  But  concerning  baptism,  thus  shall  ye  baptize :  Having  first  recited 
all  these  things,  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  living  [i.  e.,  running]  water.     But  if  thou  hast  not 


*Matt.  xxviil.  19;  Mark  xvl,  16;  Acts  11,  fl;  vlll,  38;  Ix,  18;  x,  47,  48;  xvi,  15,  33; 
and  1  Cor.  l,  13-16;  Gal.  Hi,  27. 

33  Cels.  V,  14;  vH,  9.  34 1  Cor.  vl,  9-11.  ^Lard.  vii,  634,  635. 

36  Julian  (in  Lard,  vil,  636) .     ^  Epis.  to  Bcdltius,  prsefect  of  Egypt,  in  Lard,  vii,  644. 
9 


128         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  ISTew  Testament 

living  water,  then  baptize  in  other  water ;  and  if  thou  art  not  able  in 
cold,  then  in  warm  [water].  But  if  thou  hast  neither,  then  pour^  water 
on  the  head  thrice,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit."  39 

Pliny  the  Younger  (110)  obviously  refers  to  the  adminis- 
§101.  The      tration  of  the  LonTs  Supper  as  the  usage  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  primitive  Church,  observed  on  the  Lord's  day: 

"  They  [the  Christians]  were  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  stated  day 
before  it  was  light,  and  sing  a  hymn  of  praise  to  Christ  as  God ;  to  bind 
themselves  by  an  oath  for  the  non-perpetration  of  any  wickedness.  .  .  . 
After  this  they  were  accustomed  to  separate,  and  then  reassemble  to  eat  a 
harmless  meal."*'' 

a)  Tertullian  (200):    "Before  daybreak  in  congrega- 
tio°a    "  *^*^^^  ^^  take  from  the  hand  of  none  but  the  presidents, 
the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  which  the  Lord  commanded 
to  be  eaten  at  meal-times,  and  enjoined  to  be  taken  by  all  alike."  *^ 

/3)  Irenseus  (178):  "And  in  this  state  of  affairs  they  held  fellowship 
with  each  other,  and  Anicetus  conceded  to  Polycarp,  in  the  church,  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist,  by  showing  him  respect."^ 

7)  Justin  Martyr  (147):  "Those  who  are  called  by  us  deacons  give 
to  each  of  those  present  to  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine,  mixed  with 
water,  over  which  the  thanksgiving  was  pronounced ;  and  to  those  who 
were  absent  they  carry  away  a  portion.  And  this  food  is  called  amongst 
us  the  Eucharist*  of  which  no  one  is  allowed  to  partake  but  the  man  who 
believes  that  the  things  which  we  teach  are  true,  and  who  has  been 
washed  with  the  washing  that  is  for  the  remission  of  sins  and  unto 
regeneration,  and  who  is  so  living  as  Christ  enjoined."  ^ 

5)  Ignatius  (110):  "Take  heed,  then,  to  have  but  one  Eucharist. 
For  there  is  [but]  one  flesh  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  one  cup  to 
[show  forth]  the  unity  of  his  blood. *^  Let  that  be  deemed  a  proper 
Eucharist  which  is  [administered]  either  by  the  bishop,  or  by  one  to 
whom  he  has  intrusted  it."** 

e)  Didache  (70-100):  "  But  as  touching  the  Eucharistic  thanksgiving, 
give  ye  thanks  thus — first  as  regards  the  cup:  *  We  give  thanks,  O  our 
Father,  for  the  holy  vine  of  thy  Son  David,  that  thou 
firmattori*"'    *^^^^*  make  known  to  us  through  thy  Son  Jesus.     Thine  is 
the  glory  for  ever  and  ever.'    Then  as  regaj-ds  the  broken 
bread:  'We  give  thanks,  0  our  Father,  for  the  life  and  knowledge  which 
thou  didst  make  known  to  us,  through  thy  Son  Jesus.   Thine  is  the  glory 
for  ever  and  ever.     As  this  broken  bread  was  scattered  upon  the  moun- 
tains, and  being  gathered  together  became  one,  so  may  thy  Chui'ch  be 

*'Eixapi'<TTta,  TTianksgiving. 

^  "EiKx^ov — to  pour  out,  to  shed,  etc.  ^Didache,  or  Teachings  of  the  Apostles,  c.  7. 

«  Official  Epls.  to  Emp.  Trajan.  ^ Do  Corona,  c.Z.  ^Fragments,  c.^, 

«First  Apology,  cc.  65,  66.  «  Epls.  to  Phlla.,  4. 
«Epis.  to  Smyrneans,  9, 


The  Histokical  Christ  and  Anciext  Chkistiaxity.     129 

gathered  togethei*  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  into  thy  kingdom.  For 
thine  is  the  glory  and  power  through  Jesus  Christ,  for  ever  and  ever.' " 
"And  on  the  Lord's-day  gather  yourselves  together  and  break  bread, 
and  give  thanks,  first  confessing  your  transgressions,  that  your  sacrifice 
may  be  pure."^ 

On  the  Eucharist,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  makes  the  following 
pointed  remark : 

"  The  Lord's  Supper  was  universally  regarded,  not  only  as  a  sacra- 
ment, but  also  as  a  sacrifice ;  the  true  and  eternal  sacrifice  of  the  New 
Covenant,  superseding  all  the  provisional  and  typical  sacrifices  of  the 
Old ;  taking  the  place  particularly  of  the  Passover,  or  the  Feast  of  the 
typical  Redemption  from  Egypt.  "^^ 

Following  the  brief  intimation  given  by  Pliny  of  the  exist- 
ent usage  of  the  primitive  Christians,  who  met  on  a  specific 
day  to  observe  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  he  men-  g  ^q^ 
tions  as  "  a  harmless  meal,"  the  ground  traversed  Resume, 
is  that  of  the  first  two  centuries,  taken,  however,  in  the  reverse 
order  of  the  chronology  in  order  to  connect  the  established 
usage  with  that  of  the  apostles.  An  inspection  of  the  testi- 
monies develops  that  at  the  beginning,  as  was  most  natural, 
instructions  were  given  concerning  the  nature  of  the  Eucha- 
rist, its  administrators^  and  the  method  of  its  administration, 
establishing  thus  from  the  beginning  this  usage  of  Christian- 
ity. Tertullian  mentions  the  fact  that  the  Christians  did 
assemble  before  daylight,  as  Pliny  affirms,  and  on  the  Lord's 
command  all  alike  partook  of  the  supper  called  the  Eucharist. 
Irenajus  indicates  the  characteristic  of  Christian  fellowship  and 
the  proper  respect  due  the  administrator.  Justin  represents 
the  manner  of  the  administration  and  the  character  requisite 
in  the  recipients.  Ignatius  explains  the  nature  of  the  feast. 
The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles  enjoins  the  service  of  the  early 
Church  and  the  method  to  he  observed  in  the  remembrance  and 
honoring  of  Jesus  Christ  its  Pounder.  Thus  we  are  brought 
back  to  the  apostolic  usage  in  the  Apostolic  Age.  It  remains 
to  be  remarked  that  the  two  institutions — baptism  and  the 
Lord's   Supper — being  identified   with   the   origin  of  Chris- 

^mdache,  c.  9, 14.  «  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  II,  245.    See  1  Cor.  v,  7. 


130         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tianity,  are  themselves  monuments  in  evidence  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  of  those  Scriptures  whose  con- 
tents gave  an  account  of  these  two  institutions.^ 

THE  INSTITUTION  OP  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 

The    Christian    Sabbath-day,   which   commemorates   the 

resurrection  of  Christ,  happened  to  coincide  with  Sun-day  on 

„,«=  ^^  .      the  Roman  calendar,  the  day  dedicated  to  the 
§  105,  Chris-  '  -^ 

tianity  and  the  worship  of  the  Sun.  Familiarity  with  the  name 
of  that  day  renders  it  easy  to  understand  how  the 
Christians  came  to  call  their  sacred  rest  day  "  Sunday."  Nev- 
ertheless, it  is  a  heathen  designation  and  without  authority 
from  the  Scriptures.  The  apostles  themselves  never  so  named 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  but  uniformly  referred  to  it  as  "^Ae 
Jirst  day  of  the  weekf  or  "  the  Lord's  day^''  ^  which  indicates  its 
purpose.  This  accordancy  in  observing  the  same  day  by  both 
heathen  and  Christian  peoples,  though  for  different  reasons, 
explains  why  the  Christians  excited  no  surprise  in  the  minds 
of  their  heathen  neighbors,  that  their  writers  should  not  give 
the  Sabbath  special  mention.  However,  Pliny,  when  govern- 
ing Bithynia  and  Pontus  in  Asia  Minor,  in  his  famous  letter  to 
the  Emperor  Trajan,  mentions  the  Christian  custom  of  meet- 
ing before  the  light  of  day,  "  on  a  stated  day^^  ^  to  engage  in 
singing  a  hymn  of  praise  to  Jesus  as  God,  when  they  all  par- 
took of  the  harmless  meal.  That  this  was  on  the  Sabbath  is 
obvious  from  the  fact  that  the  Christians  met  on  no  other  day 
for  such  purpose.  Pliny's  reference  to  the  Christian  Sabbath 
is  confirmed  by  the  following  testimonies : 

1.  The  Council  of  Nicaea  (A.  D.  325)  was  the  first  (Ecu- 
8i06.conciiiar  ^®°^^^^  Council  held,  and  among  its  very  first 
Recognition,   decisions  declared : 

"  Forasmuch  as  some  on  the  Lord's-day  bow  the  knee  in  prayer,  as 
also  on  other  days  of  Pentecost,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity,  they  shall 
now  stand  to  offer  their  prayei'S  to  God."^'' 

«Matt.  xxvl,  26-29;  Mark  xlv,  22-25;  Luko  xxll,  14-20;  John  xili.  Recorrob- 
orated  by  1  Cor.  v,  7,  8;  xl,  23-29.  <»  Acts  xx,  7;  1  Cor.  xvl,2.         WRev.  1, 10. 

61  '■'■Stato  die"  Letter  to  Trajan.         '^  Council  Nicwa,  xx. 


The  Histokical  Chkist  and  Ancient  Christianity.     131 

2.  The  Emperor  Constantine,  a  few  years  before  (321)  pub- 
lished an  edict  recalling  both  the  heathen  and  the  Christian 
subjects  from  their  industries  on  the  Sabbath-  „^q^  constan- 
day,  which  he  designates  as  "  the  venerable  day  tine's  Edict, 
of  the  Sun."  By  this  appellation  all  recognized  his  meaning 
the  Christian  Sabbath.     He  said : 

"Let  all  the  judges  and  populations  of  towns,  and  the  duties  of  all 
professions  be  discontinued  on  the  venerable  day  of  the  Sun."*^ 

3.  Eusebius,  the  historian  (315),  says: 

"The  Churches  throughout  the  rest  of  the  world  who  observe  the 
practice   that  has  prevailed   from  apostolic  tradition  until  the  present 
time ;  so  that  it  would  not  be  proper  to  terminate  our 
fast  on  any  other  day  but  the  day  of  the  resurrection  of  ^    Decree 
our  Savior.     Hence  there  were  Synods  and  Convocations 
of  the  Bishops  on  this  question,  and  all  unanimously  drew  up  an  ecclesias- 
tical decree  which  they  communicated  to  all  the  Churches  in  all  places, 
that  the  mystery  of  the  Lord's  resurrection  should  be  celebrated  on  no  other 
than  the  Lord' s-day ."  ^ 

4.  Peter,  Bishop  of  Alexandria  (300),  about  fifteen  years 
earlier  wrote:  "  We  keep  the  Lord''s-day  as  a  day  g^og^  Bishop 
of  joy,    because   of   Him  who   rose   thereon."®        Peter. 

5.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of   Carthage   (253),  eminent  for  his 
legal  lore,  about  forty-seven  years  earlier,  in  a  g  ^  ^q  -q^^-^q^ 
Synodical  Letter  mentions  the  well-known  fact      cyprian. 
that  the  Zord^ s-day  wslS  both  '''- the  first  and  the  eighth  day P^ 

6.  Tertullian  of  Carthage  (200),  the  eminent  juris-consult 
in  Roman  law,  said,  more  than  a  half-century  before  Cyprian : 

"It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  we  pray  towards  the    §111-  Tertul- 

east     .     .     .    because  we   make   Sun-day  a  day  of  fes-     liar's  Testi- 

J  mony. 

tivity."*^     "In  the  same  way,  if  we  devote  Sun-day  to 

rejoicing,  from  a  far  different  reason  than  Sun-worship,  we  have  some 

resemblance  to  those  of  you  who  devote  the  day  of  Saturn  to  ease  and 

luxury.^     O  better  fidelity  of  the   nations   to   their  own   sect,  which 

claims  no  solemnity  of  the  Christians  for  itself !    Not  the  Lord's-day, 

63  Baxter's  Div.  AppH  of  Lord's  Day,  p.  41.  ^*Eccl.  Hist.,  B.  v,  c.  23. 

^  Trjv  KvpiaKTjv   xa/5M<5o'i"''7C  VfJ^^pcv  ayv€v6iiev. 

"Dr.  Hessey's  Bampton.  Lects.\,\\;  or  McCllntock  and  Strong's  Cyclop,  on 
"The  Lord's  Day."  "  To  the  Nations,  c.  13.  <>»Apol,  16. 


132         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

not  Pentecost,  even  if  they  had  known  them,  would  they  have  shared 
with  us ;  for  they  would  fear  lest  they  should  seem  to  be  Christians. 
[Though  we  share  with  them  Sunday],  we  are  not  apprehensive  lest  we 
seem  to  be  heathens.^'  *® 

7.  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons  (178),  about  twenty-two  years 
6  112  Witness  earlier  than  TertuUian,  wrote  :  "The  mystery  of 

of  irenseus.     the  Lord's  resurrection  may  not  be  celebrated  on 
amy  other  day  than  the  Lord^s-dayP^ 

8.  Bardesanes,  a  learned  heretic  of   Edessa  (160),  in  a 

work  entitled,  Laws  of  the  Countries,  addressed  to 

8113.  Barde-  '  ./  ' 

sanes'  Testi-  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  (reigned 
mony.         161-180),   about    eighteen    years    earlier   than 
Irenaeus,  wrote: 

"  Wherever  we  be,  all  of  us  are  called  by  the  one  name  of  the 
Messiah,  [viz.]  '  Christians,'  and  upon  one  day,  which  is  the  first  of  the  week, 
we  assemble  ourselves  together,  and  on  the  appointed  days  we  abstain 
from  food."«i 

9.  Justin  Martyr,  who  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  the 
SI  14  Witness  ^lose  of  the  first  century,  when  John  was  still 

of  Justin.      living,  wrote  (1 35-145) : 

"  Sunday  is  a  day  on  tohich  we  all  hold  our  common  assembly,  because 
it  is  the  first  day  on  which  God,  having  wrought  a  change  in  the  dark- 
ness and  matter,  made  the  world  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior,  on  that 
day  rose  from  the  dead.  .  .  .  And  on  the  day  called  Sunday  all  who 
live  in  cities  or  in  the  country  gather  together  in  one  place,  and  the 
memoirs  of  the  apostles,  or  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  are  read  as  long 
as  time  permits."  ^ 

10.  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  Syria  (110),  wrote  about 
§115.  Witness  ^^^^^J  J^a^s  earlier  than  Justin : 

of  Ignatius.  *<  jj^  ^^^^j^^  ^j^^g^  ^^1^^  walked  in  the  ancient  practices 

attained  unto  newness  of  hope,  no  longer  observing  Sabbaths,  but  fash- 
ioning their  lives  after  the  Lord's-day,  on  which  our  Life  also  arose 
through  Him,  .  .  .  that  we  may  be  found  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ, 
our  only  Teacher."  ^ 

6»  On  Idolatry,  c.  14. 

««  Synod.  Letter  to  Bishop  Victor  of  Rome,  cited  In  McCllntock  and  Strong's 
Cyclop.yY,  507. 

«'  See  Cureton's  transl.  In  McCllntock  and  Strong's  Cyclop.,  v.  507. 
*»  First  ApoL,  c.  67.  ^Epis.Mag.,v.V,  BLshop  Llghtfoot's  transl. 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.      133 

11.  Barnabas,  one  of  the  "Apostolic  Fathers"  {not  the 
companion  of  Paul),  wrote  about  A.  D.  70-79 :      §ii6.  witness 

"  Finally  he  sal th,    .    .    .    Your  present  Sabbaths  are    of  Barnabas, 
not  acceptable  to  me.    ...    I  shall  make  a  [new]  beginning  of  the 
eighth  day,  that  is  the  beginning  of  another  world.     Wherefore  also  we 
keep  the  Lord's-day  with  joyf  ulness ;   the  day  also  on  which  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead."" 

12.  The  Apostle  John,  either  A.  D.  68  or  96,  while  re- 
cording his  Apocalyptic  Visions  which  he  saw  g,jj^  witness 
at  Patmos,  in  his  opening  chapter  says:  of  John. 

"  I,  John,  who  am  your  brother  and  companion  in  tribulation,  .  .  . 
was  in  the  isle  which  is  called  Patmos,  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Chi-ist.     I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's-day."^ 

13.  The  Didache,  or  Teaching  of  the  Apostles  ^-^-^q  -w-itnes 
(70-1 00),  written  within  the  Apostolic  Age,  reads:  of  the  Didache. 

"  On  the  Lord's  own  day  gather  yourselves  together,  and  break 
bread,  and  give  thanks."*^ 

14.  Paul  the  Apostle  (about  A.  D.  64)  spent  seven  days  at 
Troas,  and  his  companion  Luke  thus  reports  the  ^^^q  witness 
apostolic  rule  there  enjoined:  ofPaui. 

"  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  together 
to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them,  ready  to  depart  on  the  mor- 
row." "  Now  concerning  the  collection  of  the  saints,  as  I  have  given 
order  to  the  Churches  of  Galatia,  even  so  do  ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  God  hath  prospered 
him,  that  there  be  no  gathering  when  I  come."  ^^ 

The   territory  traversed  respecting  the  institution  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath  is  that  period  of  time  embraced  between 
the  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion  as  the    „  ^go  The 
religion  of  the  Koman  Empire  (323-325)  and      Resume, 
that  in  which  the  apostles  themselves  taught.     This  yields  not 
only  the  apostolic  teachings  on  this  subject,  but  also  the  con- 

^Epis.,  C.14 

*s  Rev.  1,  9,  10.  If  John  was  exiled  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  as  all  the  Internal 
evidence  indicates,  the  Apocalypse  was  written  about  67;  if  under  Doniitlan,  as 
the  external  evidence  Indicates,  the  writing  occurred  about  96  The  earlier  date 
Is  favored  by  Neander,  Gleseler,  Baur,  Ewald,  Liicke,  Bleek,  DeWette,Reuss,  Diis- 
terdieck,  Weiss,  R6nan,  Stanley,  Bishop  Llghtfoot,  and  Canon  Westcott.  See  also 
Schaff's  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  I,  429.        ^^ Didache,  c.  14.        ""Acts  xx,  7;  1  Cor.  xvl,  2. 


134         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

stant  practice  of  the  Church.  The  testimonies  cited  are  the 
most  authoritative  known  to  early  Christian  history ;  namely, 
of  the  emperor,  Council,  bishops,  apologists,  a  heretic,  one  dis- 
ciple of  the  apostles,  the  document  entitled  Teaching  of  the 
Apostles^  and,  finally,  the  utterances  of  two  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished apostles  themselves.  The  witnesses  are  fourteen  in 
number ;  and  their  witness  comes  from  different  centuries, 
from  different  countries,  written  in  different  languages ;  but 
each  one  attests  the  apostolic  teaching  and  the  Christian  prac- 
tice of  observing  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Christian 
Sabbath.  Moreover,  they  all  confirm  the  statement  made  by 
Pliny  that  the  Christians  were  accustomed  to  meet  on  "a 
stated  day"  for  their  sacred  observances.  The  catena  of 
proofs  is  complete,  extending  through  the  first  three  hundred 
years  after  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  averaging  one  witness  for 
less  than  every  twenty-five  years  in  consecutive  order.  Now, 
reckoning  the  Christian  era  to  have  begun  B.  C.  4,  and  allow- 
ing thirty-three  years  until  the  crucifixion,  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath-day  in  all  Christendom,  weekly,  has  been  no  less 
than  ninety-seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventj'^-two 
times  until  our  present  twentieth  century.  Such,  then,  is 
a  standing  witness  through  all  the  centuries,  from  the  very 
beginning,  of  the  constant  usage  of  the  Church;  and  the 
Sabbath-day  is  itself  a  monumental  evidence  of  the  antiquity 
and  the  historicity  of  Christianity. 

The  Christianity  of  Christ. 

Jesus  appears  to  have  passed  through  his  earlier  years  re- 
garded as  a  peasant  related  to  the  mountain  tribe  of  Judah, 
«     ^        rather  than  as  the  Child  of  royal  blood,  until  his 

§121.  Christ  "^  ' 

and  entrance  upon  public  life  at  the  age  of  thirty, 
y-  jjjg  gpg^  appearance  is  in  company  with  the  Bap- 
tist, while  engaged  in  his  initiative  rite  for  his  Messianic 
work.  His  ministry  opened  and  closed  within  the  brief  period 
of  three  years  and  a  half.  But,  in  results,  the  world  knows 
no  comparison.     His  wondrous  success,  which  augments  as  the 


The  Historical  Chkist  and  Ancient  Christianity.     135 

world  grows  older,  can  never  be  explained  on  mere  natural 
principles.  As  to  all  human  resources,  Christ's  were  conspic- 
uous for  their  poverty.  It  was  clearly  a  case  in  which  triumph 
of  power  came  under  the  worst  conditions  which  it  was  pos- 
sible to  impose.  He  was  born  in  obscurity,  nurtured  in  pov- 
erty, and  died  in  shame.  He  was  without  wealth,  without  in- 
fluence, without  friends,  without  arms  or  arsenals,  without 
navy  or  nation,  to  enforce  his  will.  Eather,  he  proposed  the 
immediate  aggression  and  complete  conquests  in  the  world 
merely  by  the  power  of  persuasion  and  love;  and  no  other 
man  born  of  woman  ever  so  impressed  himself  upon  the  con- 
sciousness of  mankind.  None  ever  attained  his  exalted  purity 
of  character,  or  acquired  such  place  and  pre-eminence  in  his- 
tory. Wherever  the  story  of  his  life  is  told,  it  makes  a  power- 
ful impression,  and  can  never  be  forgotten.  Though  now  it  is 
approaching  two  thousand  years  since  his  crucifixion,  he  was 
never  more  alive  and  within  touch  of  every  man's  conscience. 
His  influence  has  grown  to  be  a  thousand-fold  greater  than  it 
was  on  the  day  when  he  died.  Even  his  enemies  are  resist- 
lessly  stirred  at  the  very  thought  of  Jesus.  They  can  not 
leave  him  alone.  He  will  not  down  at  their  bidding.  Men 
who  will  not  pray,  at  least  will  blaspheme  his  name.  But  his 
power  has  never  for  a  moment  been  repressed.  His  fame  has 
been  given  to  the  nations.  It  is  now  encompassing  the  globe. 
It  has  found  expression  in  the  great  languages  of  the  earth. 
If  all  the  literature  relating  to  his  words  and  deeds,  to  his  life 
and  death,  were  suddenly  retired  from  the  libraries  of  mankind, 
the  world  would  stand  amazed  at  the  vacancy  which  would 
be  created.  That  his  power  has  changed  the  course  of  his- 
tory, none  can  intelligently  deny.  Kingdoms  and  nations  rise 
and  fall,  but  his  name  is  an  everlasting  name,  which  shall  not 
be  cut  off,  and  his  kingdom  shall  know  no  end.  Millions  who 
have  learned  his  fame  believe  that  Jesus  was  the  very  Son  of 
God ;  and  many  millions  more  who  have  lived  but  are  passed 
away,  reposed  their  hope  for  immortality  in  the  power  of  that 
name.     If  Jesus  be  not  the  Christ  of  Scripture,  there  never 


136         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

was,  and  there  never  can  be,  another.     For  he  fulfilled  the 

predictions  of  Christ,  and  he  did  the  works  of  Christ,  and  he 

suffered  the  sufferings  of  Christ;  and  now  he  reigns  in  the 

royalty  of  Christ.     As  Jean  Paul  Eichter  has  so  beautifully 

expressed  it: 

"The  life  of  Christ  concerns  him  who,  being  the  holiest  of  the 
mighty  and  the  mightiest  of  the  holy,  lifted  with  his  pierced  hand  em- 
pires off  their  hinges,  and  turned  the  stream  of  centuries  out  of  its 
channel,  and  still  governs  the  Ages." 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  wherever  Christianity  has  gone  and 
has  been  cordially  received,  it  has  proved  itself  a  stupendous 
fact  and  factor  in  the  political  world,  in  the  practical  affairs 
of  society  at  large,  as  well  as  a  directive  power  acting  upon 
the  character  and  life  of  the  individual  man.  In  every 
country  and  community  where  it  has  become  permanently 
rooted  in  society  or  State,  it  has  been  recognized  as  both  a 
conservative  force  in  restraining  vice,  and  an  aggressive  force 
for  the  upbuilding  of  moral  and  spiritual  worth  in  human 
character.  Those  civilizations  on  the  atlas  of  the  globe  which 
to-day  have  pre-eminence  in  place  and  power  are  the  Christian 
nations  which  stand  in  the  forefront  of  the  universe  just  in 
proportion  as  they  have  stood  for  the  enforcement  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  spirit  of  Christianity.  A  distinct  and  absolute  line 
can  be  drawn  on  the  world's  map,  separating  and  illustrating 
just  where  the  gospel  has  gone,  and  where  it  is  yet  to  go.  It 
can  not  be  ignored  that  the  several  Christian  nations  of 
Europe  and  America  are  incomparably  superior  to  those  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  in  intelligence,  in  character  and  happiness 
of  the  people,  in  civilization  and  government,  in  invention,  in 
industry,  and  the  arts,  both  practical  and  aesthetic,  no  less 
than  in  military  and  naval  prowess.  Who  are  the  "  Powers 
of  Europe"  but  the  most  advanced  Christian  nations  of  the 
earth?  Which  are  "the  Dark"  Continents,  but  those  which 
the  Christian  religion  has  not  yet  penetrated  and  permeated, 
where  the  effete  religions  of  a  barbaric  ancestry  still  hold  in 
crudest  bondage  the  minds  of  a  people  devoted  to  their  an- 


The  Historical  Christ  and  Ancient  Christianity.     137 

cient  traditions,  with  all  the  horrors  of  their  fanatical  and 
superstitious  practices? 

Confessedly  the  foremost  nations  of  the  earth  are  those 
which  have  founded  their  laws  upon  the  legislation  of  Moses 
in  the  wilderness  and  the  Sermon  of  Christ  upon  the  moun- 
tains. Truly  did  that  great  judicial  mind,  Sir  Matthew  Hale, 
remark  that  "  Christianity  is  a  parcel  of  the  common  law." 
It  does  not  enter  the  halls  of  legislation  to  dictate  or  make 
codes,  but  it  teaches  legislators  right  principles  of  equity,  and 
molds  the  conscience  to  a  sense  of  that  which  is  right  and  just 
in  ruling.  In  these  nations  alone  has  the  spirit  existed  which 
destroyed  the  infamous  slave-trade,  which  has  broken  off  for- 
ever the  shackles  of  the  bondsmen;  has  elevated  the  lowly  to 
the  possibilities  and  realizations  of  places  of  power  and  prefer- 
ment; has  enriched  countries  with  educational  institutions  for 
the  advantage  and  advancement  of  the  youtli;  has  created 
homes  for  the  aged,  societies  for  the  protection  of  children, 
founded  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  aMcted,  established  re- 
formatories for  the  recovery  of  the  erring  and  fallen,  and 
built  churches  for  the  salvation  of  the  unsaved.  They  have 
organized  the  people  into  societies  to  prevent  cruelty  to  brutes. 
Nay,  it  is  the  very  spirit  and  law  of  the  Christian  religion  to 
teach  kindliness  in  the  home,  care  for  the  servants,  help  for 
the  poor,  respect  for  children,  deference  to  parents,  honor  to 
woman,  reverence  for  the  aged,  love  for  one's  neighbor,  to 
bring  charities  for  the  destitute,  missions  to  the  pagans,  and 
Christ  everywhere  for  the  unsaved.  With  such  a  history  be- 
hind it,  and  such  objects  for  activity  before  it,  and  such  a 
spirit  within  it,  it  is  obviously  quite  too  late  to  attempt 
to  relegate  Christianity  to  the  rear,  or  politely  bow  it  out 
of  existence,  or  assign  it  a  place  among  the  common  myths 
of  superstitious  peoples.  The  impotent  sneer  of  the  disbeliever 
is  a  confession  that  as  a  reasoner  he  has  ceased  to  be  rational, 
and  feels  that  he  can  not  refute  the  just  and  open  claims  of 
the  religion  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PROOF  OF  MIRACLES  WROUGHT  BY 
JESUS  CHRIST. 

I.    PREIilMINARIES   TO   THE   DISCUSSION. 

1.  General  Definition  of  Miracles. 

2.  Miracles  Witnessed  by  the  Disciples. 

3.  Miracles  not  denied  for  Four  Centuries. 

II.  Attestations  of  Enemies  to  Miracles. 
o)   The  Testimony  of  Jewish  Writers. 

a.  The  Witness  of  Josephus. 

b.  The  Witness  of  the  Talmud. 

c.  The  Witness  of  Toledoth  Jeshu. 
/3)   The  Testimony  of  Roman  Writers. 

a.  The  Witness  of  Celsus. 

b.  The  Witness  of  Porphyry. 

c.  The  Witness  of  Hierocles. 

d.  The  Witness  of  Julian. 

(a)  Heathen  Explanations  of  Miracles. 

(b)  Objection  to  Witnesses  Considered. 

m.  Confirmatory  Attestations  to  Miracles. 

a.  The  Testimony  of  Origen. 

b.  The  Testimony  of  Tertullian. 

c.  The  Testimony  of  Irenseus. 

d.  The  Testimony  of  Quadratus. 

e.  The  Testimony  of  an  Arabic  Writer. 

139 


Chapter  VI. 

THE  PKOOF  OF  MIKACLES  WKOUGHT  BY 
JESUS  CHEIST. 

§122.  Sources:  Biographical  Epitomes, and  Literature. 

1.  HiEROCLEs  ('lepo/cX^r,  "  Literary,"  wrote  about  A.  D.  303)  was  an  emi- 

nent adversary  of  Christianity,  and  being  in  the  Roman  Govern- 
ment was  J3rst  proconsul  at  Bithynia  in  Asia  Minor;  also 
afterwards  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt  (284-305).  He  was  a  man  of 
superior  philosophical  acquirements,  and  wrote  a  work  consisting 
of  two  books  to  suppress  the  Christian  religion.  It  was  entitled 
A6701  ^iKaXrieeii;-  irpdg-  Toii(^  Xpi<TTiavoi^,  Truth-loving  Words  to  the  Chris- 
tians. He  assails  the  character  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  and  puts 
our  Lord  on  a  level  with  a  cei'tain  magician  named  Apollonius 
of  Tyana.  He  does  not  dispute  any  of  the  books  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament as  to  their  authenticity  or  credibility,  but  attempts  to 
disparage  the  writers  by  calling  them  hard  names.  In  his  zeal, 
he  testifies  to  the  names  of  six  of  the  eight  different  writers  of 
these  Scriptures.  Unfortunately,  his  writing  was  destroyed  by 
the  mistaken  judgment  of  some  of  the  later  Christian  emperors, 
although,  like  the  work  of  Porphyry,  fragments  have  been  pre- 
served in  the  citations  of  other  writers. 

2.  QuADRATUs   (123-127)  has  been  called  "a  disciple  of  the  apostles." 

However  that  may  be,  he  rose  to  pre-eminence  by  virtue  of  his 
genius  and  great  activity  in  behalf  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  Christian  writer  who  presented  a 
Defense  (called  Apology)  of  Christianity  to  a  Eoman  Emperor. 
Eusebius  describes  Quadratus  as  "  a  man  of  understanding,  and 
of  apologetic  faith,"  who  "  brought  together  again  the  Christians 
of  Athens  who  had  been  scattered  abroad  by  persecutions,  and  to 
have  rekindled  their  faith."  (Ecc.  Hist.  IV,  23.)  Some  suppose 
that  he  was  that  Quadratus  who  was  Bishop  of  Athens,  which  is 
quite  likely.  At  least  his  Defense  being  presented  to  the  Emperor 
Hadrian  (117-138),  it  was  treated  with  imperial  favor.  For  a  time 
the  persecutions  ceased.  Canon  Westcott  thinks  that  the  famous 
Epistle  to  Diognetus  of  Mathetes  was  written  by  Quadratus. 
Eusebius  says:  "Among  those  who  were  illustrious  at  the  time 
was  Quadratus,  who,  together  with  the  daughters   of  Philip,  is 

141 


142         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

said  to  have  enjoyed  the  gift  of  prophecy  [see  Acts  xxi,  9].  .  .  . 
Traveling  abroad,  they  prefer  the  work  of  evangelists,  being  de- 
sirous to  preach  Christ,  and  deliver  the  Scriptures  of  the  Divine 
Gospels:"  Kal  Ti]v  tQv  deiuv  evayyeKLwv  irapadiddcrai  ypa(piiv. 

3.  EoussEAU  (1712-1778),  a  notorious  disbeliever,  was  born  at  Geneva, 

Switzerland,  and  was  the  child  of  neglect.  He  became  first  a 
wanderer,  and  afterwards  a  Roman  Catholic.  An  erratic  adven- 
turer, he  went  to  Paris  at  the  age  of  thirty.  He  there  won  a 
prize  essay  awarded  by  the  Academy  of  Dijon,  vrritten  on  the 
proposition,  "Has  the  Revival  of  Science  and  Art  Helped  to 
Corrupt  or  to  Purify  Morals  ?"  He  affirmed  the  former  hypoth- 
esis. He  then  devoted  himself  to  literature.  His  position  was, 
that  all  men  are  born  equal ;  that  the  possession  of  property  is  a 
crime ;  that  the  soil  belongs  to  no  man ;  that  the  fruit  of  the  soil 
belongs  to  every  man  equally ;  that  monarchy  means  tyranny ; 
and  that  religion  is  a  superstition.  David  Hume  patronized  Rous- 
seau for  a  while  ;  but  they  soon  came  to  a  public  quarrel,  and 
Hume  in  self-vindication  published  the  correspondence  between 
them.  Rousseau  then  wrote  a  handbook  called  J^mile,  wiiich  as- 
sailed the  French  Government.  The  work  was  burned  and  its 
author  exiled.  Rousseau,  however,  returned  and  died  near  Paris. 
He  is  represented  in  history  as  a  man  of  impure  life.  But  for 
subtle  eloquence  he  had  no  rival  in  French  literature.  He  had 
genius  without  judgment ;  but  his  greatest  defect  of  character  was 
the  fact  that  he  was  destitute  of  principle.  His  Confessions 
(Geneva,  4  vols.,  1782)  have  been  translated  into  most  of  the  civil- 
ized languages. 

4.  David  Hume  (1711-1776)  was  a  Scotchman,  born  at  Edinburgh,  and  an 

historian  of  England.  He  developed  a  passion  for  literature  early. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  became  a  skeptic.  He  was  a  man  of  pure 
morals  and  amiable  manners.  As  an  historian  he  was  in  some  re- 
spects very  able,  but  inaccurate  and  partial.  He  maintained  that 
"  the  doctrine  of  an  Absolute  First  Cause  is  unwarrantable  in  phi- 
losophy." His  famous  sophism  against  miracles  was  at  first  pro- 
posed in  mere  jest  to  silence  a  Jesuit  named  La  Fleche,  who  had 
claimed  that  a  miracle  had  recently  been  performed  in  his  convent. 
Afterwards  he  elaborated  this  idea  against  the  miracles  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  fallacy  of  Hume's  assumption  has  often  since 
been  exposed — in  the  last  instance  by  his  admirer  and  biographer, 
Thomas  Huxley. 

6.  Thomas  H.  Huxley,  born  in  England  in  1825,  graduated  with  dis- 
tinction from  the  University  of  London  in  1845,  was  appointed 
Professor  of  History  in  the  School  of  Mines  and  of  Physiology  in  1854, 
and  professor  in  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  1863-1869,  was 
elected  president  of  the  Geological   and    Ethnological  Societies 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  "Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     143 

during  1869  and  1870.  He  labored  most  in  the  line  of  Biological 
Science,  and  distinguished  himself  most  in  Comparative  Anatomy 
of  both  vertebrate  and  invertebrate  animals,  and  succeeded  in 
systematizing  organisms.  He  proposed  several  rearrangements 
into  new  orders  and  classes.  Among  nine  different  works  from 
his  pen,  are  his  Lay  Sermons  and  his  Huxley's  Hume.  He  was  a 
skeptic.     His  death  occun-ed  June  29,  1885. 

6.  Daniel  Schenkkl,  born  at  Dogerlin,  Canton  Zurich,  Switzerland,  in 

1813.  He  studied  theology  in  Bale  under  the  teaching  of  the 
notable  DeWette  and  Hagenbach,  and  afterwards  at  Gottingen. 
He  became  Professor  of  Theology  in  Bale  in  1849,  and  in  Heidel- 
berg in  1851.  He  published  his  Christliche  Dogmatik,  in  two  vol- 
umes, in  Wiesbaden,  in  1858  and  1859,  and  his  Das  Characterbild 
Jesu  in  1864.  At  Heidelberg  he  nearly  lost  his  position  because  of 
his  rationalism. 

7.  Karl  Immanuel  Nitzsch,  a  native  of  Borna,  Saxony,  born  1787.     He 

pursued  theology  at  Wittenberg,  and  was  elected  professor  at 
Bonn  in  1822,  and  at  Berlin  in  1847,  where  he  died  in  1868.  As  a 
theologian,  Nitzsch  belonged  to  the  orthodox  school  of  Neander 
and  Tholuck.     He  was  the  author  of  several  valuable  works. 

8.  Philip  Sohapf,  a  native  of  Switzerland,  born  in  1819.     He  studied  at 

Coire,  Stuttgart,  Tubingen,  Halle,  and  Berlin.  He  was  elected 
Professor  in  the  University  of  Berlin  in  1841 ;  and  upon  the 
recommendation  of  Neander  and  Tholuck  came  to  America  in  1844, 
to  take  a  theological  chair  in  the  German  Reform  School  in  Mer- 
cersburg,  Pennsylvania.  Afterward  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  He  was  appointed  president  of  the  American 
Revision  Committee  of  the  Scriptures  in  1871,  which  he  is  said  to 
have  regarded  as  the  greatest  compliment  received  in  his  life,  es- 
pecially as  he  had  not  acquired  a  mastery  of  the  English  until  he 
had  attained  his  manhood.  Dr.  Schaff  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
scholarship,  who  did  more  for  this  country  in  the  lines  of  the- 
ological literature  than  any  man  in  America.  Among  his  many 
productions  may  be  named  his  Person  of  Christ,  in  reply  to  Renan 
and  Strauss  (12th  edition,  1882)  ;  History  of  the  Christian  Church 
(6  vols.,  2d  ed.  enlarged  and  revised);  and  his  editorship  of  a  Re- 
ligious Encyclopaedia  (3  vols.,  1884). 

9.  George  P.  Fisher,  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1827.     He  was  graduated 

at  Brovra  University,  Rhode  Island,  in  1847  ;  also  in  the  Theological 
School  at  New  Haven,  after  which  he  studied  in  Germany.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Chair  of  Theology  in  1854,  but  in  1861  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Chair  of  Ecclesiastical  History  at  New  Haven.  He 
is  a  writer  of  several  very  valuable  critical  and  historical  works. 
10 


144         HisTOKiCAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajsient. 

In  1885,  Dr.  Fisher  published  a  work  of  rare  value  on  the  Super- 
natural Origin  of  Christianity;  in  1883  he  issued  Grounds  of  The- 
istic  and  Christian  Belief;  and  subsequently  his  Beginnings  of 
Christianity ,  and  another  on  Church  History.  "  His  writings  are 
marked  by  learning,  acuteness,  solidity,  and  breadth  of  vision." 

§  123.  Miracles  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  denial  of  miracles  involves  the  denial  of  a  free,  living,  personal 
God. — NiTzscH. 

Seriously  to  raise  the  question  would  be  impious,  if  it  were  not  absurd. 
— Rousseau. 

Only  few  men  are  wise  enough  to  perceive  that  much  more  intelligence 
is  necessary  to  the  believing  of  a  miracle  than  cleverness  in  its 
denial. — Schenkel. 

If  miracles  are  disproved,  Christianity  is  stripped  of  its  essential  pe- 
culiarity. The  central  fact  of  a  supernatural  interposition  having 
for  its  end  the  restoration  of  man  to  communion  with  God  is  lost. 
— Fisher. 

Christianity  does,  indeed,  involve  many  difficulties,  but  it  does  not 
create  them.  The  essence  of  Christianity  lies  in  a  miracle. — 
Westcott. 

Christ  must  be  reckoned  to  be  a  magician,  because  he  did  many  wonder- 
ful things. — HiERocLEs. 

The  contemporaries  of  Jesus,  his  enemies  as  well  as  his  friends,  believed 
in  his  power  of  miracles,  with  this  difference:  that  one  traced  it 
to  Satan,  the  other  to  God. — Schafp. 

ARGUMENT, 

During  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  contemporaries  had  ample 
opportunities  to  witness  the  signs  of  his  Messiahship  in  his  many 
miracles.  Multitudes  realized,  in  their  own  experience  or  in 
their  observation,  the  proof  of  his  miraculous  power,  in  the  cure 
of  the  blind,  in  the  recovery  of  the  leper,  in  the  casting  out  of 
demoniacs,  in  multiplying  loaves  for  the  living,  in  raising  the 
dead  to  life.  Though  his  enemies  ignored  his  claims  so  far  justi- 
fied as  the  Messiah  of  prophecy,  they  did  not  deny  that  he  certainly 
exercised  supernatural  power  over  nature,  disease,  and  death, 
which,  however,  they  chose  to  ascribe  to  the  agency  of  Satan.  It 
is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  for  several  centuries  after  our 
Lord's  death,  neither  Jew  nor  heathen  adversary  attempted  to 
deny  the  fact  that  Jesus  did  work  miracles.  Upon  the  contrary, 
they  admitted  it  to  be  the  truth  that  he  wrought  miraculous 
occuri'ences  which  they  sought  to  explain  by  referring  them  to 
magic,  to  sorcery,  or  to  juggling: — matters  which  were  more 
familiar  to  the  heathen  mind. 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     145 

Now,  the  admission  of  enemies  on  matters  of  fact  is  strictly  evidential ; 
but  their  mei'e  opinions  or  interpretation  of  facts  are  not,  for  the 
reason  that  opinions  may  be  only  prejudices,  and  interpretations 
may  be  mere  perversions ;  so  that  both  are  inadmissible  in  the 
courts,  as  a  rule.  As  important  concessions  of  facts  were  em- 
bodied in  the  literary  works  of  enemies  written  expressly  to 
destroy  the  Christian  religion  with  the  people  anciently,  these 
will  here  be  reproduced  to  verify  and  attest  the  authenticity  and 
historicity  of  Christ's  miracles  as  recorded  in  the  four  Gospels. 
The  testimony  of  the  adversaries  having  been  adduced  to  prove 
the  fact  of  miracles,  confirmation  of  their  testimony  by  early 
Christians  will  be  added,  further  to  substantiate  their  historical 
occurrence. 

1.  Preliminaries  respecting  the  miracles  of  Christ. 

2.  Witness  of  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  religion. 

3.  Confirmation  by  the  friends  of  Christianity. 

Preliminaries  to  the  Discussion. 

a)  By  the  word  miracle  is  meant  a  fact  or  event  made 
manifest  to  the  human  senses,  wrought  by  the  direct  will  and 
power  of  God,  in  the  interests  of  Divine  revela- 

^  '  .  §124.  Defini- 

tion.    By  its  nature  it  belongs  to  the  system  of       tion  of 

redemption,  and  can  not  be  properly  considered 
as  a  part  of  Christian  evidence  when  sundered  from  its  right- 
ful place  and  relations.     John  Stuart  Mill,  himself  an  Atheist, 
wrote : 

"It  is  evidently  impossible  to  maintain  that  if  a  supernatural  fact 
really  occurs,  proof  of  its  occurrence  can  not  be  accessible  to  human 
faculties.  The  evidence  of  the  senses  could  prove  this,  as  it  can  prove 
other  things."^ 

Dr.  Charles  Hodge  also  remarks : 

"  The  raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead  may  be  taken  as  an  example. 
This  was  an  event  which  occurred  in  the  outer  world ;  one  which  could 
be  seen  and  verified  by  the  testimony  of  the  senses.  It  was  not  brought 
about  either  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  efficiency  of  natural  causes.  It 
was  due  to  a  simple  word  or  volition  or  immediate  agency  of  God.  .  .  . 
So  when  Christ  walked  the  sea,  when  he  multiplied  the  loaves  and 
fishes,  when  he  calmed  the  winds  and  waves  by  a  command, — any 
co-operation  of  physical  causes  is  not  only  ignored,  but,  by  clearest  inti- 
mation, denied."  2 

^Three  Essays  on  Theism,  217.  ^Systematic  Theol.  1,  618. 


146         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

/3)  Neither  does  a  miraculous  occurrence  mean  a  susjpeiv- 
sion,  contravention,  or  violation  of  natural  forces',  nor  is  it  to 
be  explained  on  natural  principles  or  it  would  not  be  a  miracle, 
since  it  arises  outside  of  operations  found  in  the  system  of 
nature.  That  is,  though  the  natural  forces  remain  uninter- 
rupted in  the  exercise  of  their  function,  a  different  effect  is 
produced  by  reason  of  a  different  and  Divine  Cause.  When 
Israel  invaded  Canaan,  the  upper  waters  of  the  Jordan  were 
stayed,  and  the  lower  waters  flowed  away.  Now,  nature's 
forces  were  never  more  powerfully  active  to  cause  the  waters 
to  flow  as  usual,  but  while  the  forces  remained  intact,  the 
usual  effect  did  not  result,  but  was  changed  by  the  interposi- 
tion of  the  Divine  Cause.  Cause  and  effect  are  to  be  discrim- 
inated. The  effect  of  the  force  is  not  identical  with  the  force 
itself,  any  more  than  the  sound  of  an  explosion  is  identical 
with  the  force  which  explodes. 

Mr.  David  Hume,  the  famous  disbeliever,  catching  the  hint 
from  Spinoza,  followed  his  lead,  and  insisted  that  miracles 
were  a  violation  of  natural  laws,  and  therefore  incredible. 
He  said : 

"  Miracles  are  violations  of  the  laws  of  nature.  But  we  learn  from 
experience  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  never  violated."  "  For  miracles 
we  have  the  questionable  testimony  of  a  few  persons ;  .  .  .  against 
them  we  have  universal  experience;  therefore  this  stronger  testimony 
nullifies  the  weaker  and  more  questionable."  "It  is  a  miracle  that  a 
dead  man  should  come  to  life,  because  that  has  never  been  observed  in 
any  age  or  country." 

Thomas  H.  Huxley,  the  admirer  and  biographer  of  Hume, 
himself  also  a  skeptic,  thus  exposes  the  sophistry  and  fallacies 
of  these  propositions: 

"The  definition  of  a  miracle  as  a  suspension  or  a  contravention  of 
the  order  of  nature  is  derived  from  our  obsei'vation  of  the  course  of 
events  of  which  the  so-called  miracle  is  a  part.  On  the  other  hand,  no 
conceivable  event,  however  extraordinary,  is  impossible ;  and  therefore, 
if  by  the  term  miracles  we  mean  only  extremely  wonderful  events,  there 
can  be  no  just  ground  for  denying  the  possibility  of  their  occurrence." 
"That  is  to  say,  there  is  a  uniform  experience  against  such  an  event, 


The  Proof  of  Mikacles  "Wkought  by  Jesus  Christ.     147 

and  therefore,  if  it  occurs,  it  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.  Or,  to 
put  the  argument  in  its  naked  absurdity,  that  which  never  happened,  never 
can  happen  without  a  violation  of  the  laxvs  of  nature."^ 

Obviously  it  can  not  be  claimed  that  a  miracle  is  contrary 
to  human  experience,  since  all  miracles  constitute  a  part  of 
that  ^^ universal  exjperience''''  just  the  same  as  all  other  events. 

Nor  can  the  claim  be  justified  that  the  disciples'  testimony 
respecting  miracles  is  inadmissible,  as  they  do  §125.  TheDis- 
not  say  themselves  that  they  ever  witnessed  his     nessed^^s 
miraculous  works.     The  fact  in  the  case  is  quite       Miracles. 
to  the   contrary.      This    is    made    sufficiently  clear  in   the 
Scriptures. 

a)  John  attests: 

"  There  was  a  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee.  .  .  .  And  both  Jesus 
was  called  and  his  disciples  to  the  marriage."  Then  follows  the  account 
of  Christ  converting  the  water  into  wine.  "  This  beginning  of  miracles 
did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  manifested  forth  his  glory;  and  his  dis- 
ciples believed  on  him."*  "And  many  other  signs  did  Jesus  in  the  presence 
of  his  disciples,  which  are  not  written  in  this  book;  but  these  are  written  that 
ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  op  God."  ^  His  miracles 
were  not  wrought  in  concealment,  but  openly  before  the  public ;  for  "A 
great  multitude  followed  him  because  they  saw  the  miracles  which  he 
did  on  them  that  were  diseased;"^  and  "Many  believed  on  him  when 
they  saw  the  miracles  which  he  did."^  But  it  is  related  in  another 
instance  that  "  Though  he  had  done  so  many  miracles  before  them,  yet 
they  believed  not  on  him."^ 

/8)  Peter  also  witnesses: 

"  How  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
with  power,  who  went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were 
oppressed  of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with  him ;  and  we  are  witnesses  of  all 
things  which  he  did  both  in  the  land  of  the  Jews  and  in  Jerusalem."^ 

y)  Jesus  himself  declares : 

"And  ye  also  shall  bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with  me  from 
the  beginning."  ^0  To  some  of  the  multitude  whom  he  had  fed,  he  said, 
"  Ye  seek  me  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles,  but  because  ye  did  eat  of 
the  loaves  and  were  filled."  " 


» Huxley's  Hume,  158, 15Q.       <  John  11, 1,  2, 11.       ^  John  xx,  30,  31.         «76.  vl,  2. 
7/6.11,23.         8J6.  xli,  37.       »Acts  x,  38,  39.  wjohnxv,  27.  "John  vl,  2«5. 


148         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

Now,  it  is  a  truth  to  be  specially  noted  for  its  evidential 

value,  that  no  enemy  of  Christianity  for  the  first  four  hundred 

years  denied  or  made  question  of  the  fact  that 

§126.  Miracles  ^        .  .  ^  7  rm.- 

Stood        Christ  wrought  miracles  among  the  people.     This 
erne  .     ^^  ^^^^    ^^^j^   ^^    j^.^   Contemporaries   and    their 

successors,  whether  Jew  or  heathen.  This  claim  was  assailed 
neither  by  Josephus  nor  Tacitus  of  the  first  century,  nor 
by  Celsus  or  Lucian  of  the  second  century,  nor  by  Aurelian 
or  Porphyry  of  the  third  century,  nor  by  Hierocles  or  Julian 
of  the  fourth  century,  nor  yet  by  the  Jewish  Talmud, 
whose  writing  was  not  concluded  until  the  third  Christian 
century.  Upon  the  contrary,  wherever  they  refer  to  Christ's 
miraculous  works,  they  concede  the  fact  without  qualification, 
and  in  some  cases  they  even  mention  the  kind  of  miracle  that 
was  wrought.  It  certainly  would  have  been  of  great  advan- 
tage to  those  whose  hostility  led  them  to  write  for  the  very 
purpose  of  destroying  Christianity,  to  have  truthfully  denied 
that  which  was  made  a  standing  challenge  by  both  Christian 
apostles  and  apologists  of  the  faith.  How  could  this  have 
been  the  case  unless  Christ's  miraculous  works  were  undeniably 
valid  and  historical?  For  adverse  writers  represented  not 
only  themselves,  but  also  the  Jewish  or  heathen  populations 
behind  them.  They  all  realized  and  confessed  that  something 
had  occurred  which  they  hoped  to  explain.  They  therefore 
offered  their  opinions  in  explanation,  that  these  miracles  were 
works  of  magic,  or  juggler}'-,  or  of  sorcery,  or  were  attributable 
to  the  devil ;  conclusions  not  based  upon  investigation,  but  in 
accordance  with  their  ijrejudices.,  and  on  a  line  with  those 
deceptive  arts  with  which  they  were  most  familiar.  The 
Jewish  adversaries,  who  were  his  contemporaries,  and  their 
successors,  while  they  could  not  deny  the  fact  of  miraculous 
occurrences,  were  yet  unwilling  to  allow  that  these  were  the 
signs  of  his  Messiahship,  and  avoided  and  evaded  that  claim 
by  imputing  miracles  to  Satan.     The  record  reads: 

''The  multitudes  marveled,  saying,  It  was  never  so  seen  in  Israel; 
but  the  Pharisees  said.  By  the  prince  of  demons  he  casteth  out  demons." 


The  Pkoof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     149 

"And  he  called  them  unto  him,  and  he  said  unto  them,  .  .  .  How 
can  Satan  cast  out  Satan  ?  And  if  Satan  also  is  divided  against  himself, 
how  can  his  kingdom  stand  ;  because  ye  say  that  I  cast  out  demons  by 
Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  demons."  ^^ 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  has  aptly  remarked : 

"  The  contemporaries  of  Jesus,  his  enemies  as  well  as  his  friends, 
believed  in  his  power  of  miracles,  with  this  difference,  that  the  one 
traced  it  to  Satan,  the  other  to  God.  Is  it  credible  that  John  the  Bap- 
tist, of  whom  no  miracles  are  recorded,  the  twelve  apostles,  the  seventy 
disciples,  the  learned  and  clear-headed  Paul,  the  Evangelists,  Nicodemus 
[of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin],  the  hostile  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  the 
Sanhedrin  [itself],  and  the  common  people  in  Jerusalem  and  the  villages 
of  Galilee,  who  witnessed  his  mighty  works,  should  all  have  been  radi- 
cally mistaken  ?  ...  To  reject  [miracles]  imposes  upon  us  the 
Incredible  belief  that  a  whole  generation  of  friends  and  foes  were  radi- 
cally mistaken  in  a  matter  of  common  experience."  ^^ 

Enemies'  Witness  to  Miracles. 

1.  Josephus  (b.  37),  the  famous  historian  of  §127.  Jewish 

the  ancient  Jews,  bears  witness  unto  Jesus  to  Testimomes. 

this  effect: 

"  Now,  there  was  about  this  time  Jesus  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful 
to  call  him  a  man ;  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher  of  such 
men  as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure."  " 

2.  The  Tahmid.  Both  the  Babylonian  and  the  Palestinean 
Gemara  in  the  unexpiir gated  editions  of  Amsterdam  in  or  prior 
to  164:5,  contain  brief  but  very  malicious  references  to  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  apostles.  The  Gemara  represents  our  Lord  as 
the  illegitimate  son  of  Mary,  a  hairdresser,  and  a  man  called 
Stadia ;  that  at  one  time  Jesus  visited  Egypt,  and  there  learned 
the  arts  of  the  magicians,  which  he  afterwards  practiced  in 
Palestine,  and  that  on  this  account  as  well  as  for  leading- 
Israel  astray,  the  Jewish  rulers  caused  him  to  be  crucified.  Re- 
specting testimony  of  the  Talmud,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  remarks : 

"  We  have  here  evidently  a  malignant  perversion  and  indirect  ad- 
mission of  the  facts  of  the  supernatural  conception,  the  flight  to  Egypt, 
the  miracles  [of  Jesus],  and  the  crucifixion  of  our  Savior."" 

12  Matt.  Lx,  34;  comp.  Mark  iii,  22,  23,  26;  Luke  xl,  15, 18-20. 

isperson  of  Christ,  97-99.  iMni.  xvlil,  3,  3.    See  also  Appendix  A. 

IS  Person  of  Christ,  196. 


150         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  Talmud  reads: 

"The  Gemara  contains  this:  A  Tradition.  R.  [i.  e.,  Rabbi]  Eliezer 
said  to  the  wise  men,  '  But  did  not  the  Son  of  Stadia  bring  magical  arts 
out  of  Egypt,  in  the  cutting  of  his  flesh  ? '  The  gloss  says,  '  The  reason 
for  that  [i.  e.,  the  cutting  of  his  flesh]  was  that  he  could  not  bring  them 
away  [in  any  other  manner],  that  he  might  not  carry  out  magical  arts 
to  teach  them  to  men  dwelling  in  other  countries!"  ^^ 

3.  Toledoth  Jeshu,  a  very  ancient  rabbinical  work,  admits 
the  fact  that  Jesus  wrought  miracles  which  it  calls  magic, 
and  that  he  was  well  skilled  in  these  arts.  But  it  curiously 
ascribes  his  power  to  do  such  mighty  works  to  the  Incom- 
municable Name  "Jehovah,"  which,  it  states,  was  clan- 
destinely obtained  by  him  out  of  the  temple ;  a  name  called 
by  the  Jews  '■'"shem  IlampliorasJi  f'''  a  word  jplaced  there  hy 
Solomon^  which  had  heen  guarded  there  for  a  thousand  years  hy 
two  lions  !     The  work  further  admits  that — 

"Jesus  walked  upon  the  sea,  cured  a  leper,  and  raised  the  dead.  It 
even  goes  so  far  as  to  describe  that  on  one  occasion  the  dry  bones  of  a 
dead  body  were  brought  to  Jesus  out  of  a  sepulcher,  and  he  united 
bone  to  bone,  clothed  the  whole  with  sinews,  flesh,  and  skin,  and  the 
dead  body  stood  upon  its  feet  and  lived  again ! "  ^^ 

These  admissions  that  Jesus  did  work  miracles,  found  in 
Jewish  literature,  are  mixed  with  such  manifest  perversions  of 
fact  and  such  puerilities  of  superstition  as  to  seem  almost  in- 
credible. Upon  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  denial,  but  rather 
a  positive  assertion  of  the  occurrence  of  miracles  recorded  by 
these  adversaries,  who  even  designate  the  kind  of  miracle 
which  Jesus  wrought.  Now,  if  the  mere  tricks  of  the  magician 
can  actually  cause  a  man  to  walk  upon  the  sea  amidst  a  tem- 
pest, can  cleanse  the  leper,  can  raise  the  dead,  then  trul}'' 
"magic"  is  but  another  name  for  miracle.  "A  rose  is  just  as 
sweet  by  any  other  name."  But  when  did  "magic"  ever  per- 
form such  wonders? 


♦Derived  from  DtJ?,  na?ne,  and  K'iijp  the  Pual  participle  of  V}'\2  to  be  de- 
clared.  That  is,  the  Incommunlcablo  name  nin'  {Jehovah),  which  no  orthodox 
Jew  will  pronounce  correctly,  ever  remains  to  be  dcckircd  [and  Is]  incommunicable. 

^^liahijl.  Tal.,  Sanhedr.  fol.  107,  6;  Schahhath  fol.  104,  2;  Soto  fol.  47,  1;  also 
Idlest.  Tal.,  Schabbath  fol.  13, 1;  Mlsch.  Schabbath  fol.  4,  2. 

>7  Rabbi  Frey,  Joseph  and  Benj.  I,  214. 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     151 

To  these  testimonies  of  the  ancient  Jews  may  be  super- 
added that  of  the  modern  Dr.  Graetz,  himself  a  Jew  and  the 
distinguished  historian  of  the  Jews.     He  says : 

"The  Christian  chronicles  abound  in  extraordinary  events  and  de- 
scriptions of  miraculous  cures  by  Jesus.  Though  these  stories  may  in 
part  be  due  to  an  inclination  to  exaggerate  and  idealize,  they  must 
doubtless  have  had  some  foundation  in  fact.  Miraculous  cures — such,  for 
example,  as  the  exorcism  of  those  possessed  of  demons — belonged  so  com- 
pletely to  the  personality  of  Jesus  that  his  followers  boasted  more  of  the 
exercise  of  that  power  than  of  the  purity  and  holiness  of  their  [own] 
conduct.  "^^ 

This  frank  concession  of  the  historical  fact  that  Jesus 
actually  wrought  miracles  would  be  very  admirable  in  the 
Jewish  historian  if  it  were  not  marred  by  a  gratuitous  reflec- 
tion upon  his  followers,  which  evades  the  force  of  the  fact  ad- 
mitted.    For  is  it  not  quite  obvious  that  if  his 

^  .  §  128.  Philos- 

disciples  had  ^^boasted^^  at  all  "of  the  purity  and        ophers' 

holiness  of  their  [own]  conduct,"  it  would  have       ^^  imony. 

evidenced  that  they  possessed  neither?    But  the  "conduct" 

of  Christ's  disciples  is  altogether  an  admission  that  Jesus  did 

actually  work  miracles. 

4.  Celsus  (wrote  150): 

"Jesus  .  .  .  having  hired  himself  out  as  a  servant  in  Egypt  on 
account  of  his  poverty,  and  having  there  acquired  some  miraculous  powers, 
on  which  the  Egyptians  greatly  prided  themselves,  returned  to  his  own 
country  highly  elated  on  account  of  them,  and  by  means  of  these  he 
proclaimed  himself  a  God."  But  "these  tenets  of  his  were  those  of  a 
God-hated  sorcerer." ^^  Christians  also  "deemed  Jesus  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  because  he  healed  the  lame  and  the  blind."  "Moreover,  as  you 
[Christians]  assert,  he  raised  the  dead."^**  Origen,  replying,  says: 
"  Celsus  .  .  .  affects  to  grant  that  those  statements  may  be  true 
which  are  made  regarding  his  cures,  or  his  resurrection,  or  the  feeding 
of  a  multitude  with  a  few  loaves,  from  which  many  fragments  remained 
over,"  and  then  he  quotes  Celsus  as  saying,  "Well,  let  us  believe  that 
these  were  actually  wrought  by  you."^  "  O  light  and  truth!  Jesus 
with  his  own  voice  expressly  declares  .  .  .  that  there  will  appear 
among  you  others  also  who  will  perform  miracles  of  similar  kind, 
but  who  are  wicked  men  and  sorcerers."  ^ 


>8  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  I,  156, 157.  "  Origen  contra  Celsum,  I,  28,  71. 

20i6. 11,48.  21/6.1,68. 

22  Origen  contra  CeUum,  II,  49,  53;  comp.  Matt,  xxlv,  24;  Markxlii,  22;  2  Thess. 
11,  9,  10. 


152         HisTOEicAL  Evidence  of  the  Is^ew  Testament. 

An  analysis  of  Celsus's  testimony  yields  the  following  con- 
cessions of  fact : 

1.  He  admits  that  Jesus  actually  did  "acquire   miraculous 

powers"  in  Egypt,  though  Christ  then  was  but  a  babe! 

2.  Specifically  he  effected  "cures,"  "fed  the  multitude  with  a 

few  loaves,"  "  healed  the  lame  and  the  blind,"  and  "  raised 
the  dead." 

3.  N"evertheless,  these  wonders  of  Jesus,  so  far  from  being 

miraculous,  were  the  acts  of  no  other  than  "  a  God-hating 
sorcerer." 

4.  That  Jesus  confessed  that  "wicked  men  and  sorcerers" 

would  arise  and  "perform  miracles  of  similar  kind"  to 

his  own. 
Evidently  these  several  propositions  are  incompatible  with 
each  other.  For  miracles  can  not  at  the  same  time  be  both 
true  and  false,  actual  and  yet  deceptive,  causing  "cures"  of 
"the  lame  and  blind,"  feeding  "thousands  with  a  few  loaves," 
and  yet  be  "the  tenets  of  a  God-hating  sorcerer."  Such,  then, 
is  the  best  and  the  worst  that  Celsus  has  to  say  of  our  Lord 
and  his  miracles.  He  obviously  criticises  these  Christian 
tenets  in  an  unscientific  spirit,  but  in  accordance  with  his 
own  heathen  prepossessions.  Nevertheless,  he  does  not,  so  far, 
evince  that  vicious  disposition  which  was  manifested  by  the 
Jews  from  whom  Celsus  is  said  to  have  derived  much  of  his 
information  respecting  the  early  Christians.  However,  being 
a  pagan  and  knowing  nothing  of  miracles,  he  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  be  prepared  to  believe  them  to  be  possible,  much 
less  to  understand  their  purpose  and  place  in  the  redemptive 
scheme  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  was  quite  natural,  there- 
fore, that  he  should  identify  miraculous  occurrences  with  the 
tricks  of  impostors — jugglers,  magicians,  or  sorcerers;  arts 
which  he  knew  the  most  about,  though  he  wrote  most  about 
that  of  which  he  knew  the  least. 

However,  in  this  day  these  explanations  of  Celsus  do  not 
explain.    No  man  of  ordinary  intelligence  would  willingly  put 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     153 

his  reputation  to  the  rack  by  tlie  offer  of  a  proposition  against 
miracles  as  explained  by  the  mere  tricks  of  the  magician. 
For  is  it  not  self-evident  to  any  but  the  most  superficial 
thinker  that,  if  Jesus  actually  did  walk  upon  the  sea,  cleanse 
the  leprous,  give  sight  to  the  blind,  and  raise  the  dead,  these 
occurrences  were  in  fact  miracles,  and  so  at  a  remove  from 
the  power  and  possibility  of  the  impostor?  Did  a  magician 
ever  give  sight  to  the  blind,  or  raise  the  dead,  or  do  anything 
whatever  for  the  permanent  good  of  men  ?  If  the  miracles  of 
Jesus  were  countless  in  number,  and  wonderful  for  variety, 
they  were  wrought  in  accordance  with  the  more  ancient  pre- 
diction as  the  expected  "signs"  of  his  Messiahship.  They 
were  open  to  the  scrutiny  of  the  public,  and  witnessed  by 
multitudes  of  people ;  they  were  attested  under  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  Sanhedrists;  they  were  recorded  hy  the  Evan- 
gelists in  the  four  Gospels  without  the  slightest  fear  of  contra- 
diction, in  the  face  of  their  worst  foes — a  constant  challenge 
for  all  enemies  to  refute  the  high  claim.  "With  all  this  sanc- 
tion and  authority  of  Christian  antiquity,  the  Church  from 
the  very  beginning  has  affirmed  that  Christ's  miracles  were 
historical;  and  no  enemy  for  four  centuries  either  attempted 
to  deny  or  refute  the  proposition. 

But  the  citation  from  Christ  made  by  Celsus  that  "  wicked 
men  and  sorcerers"  would  arise,  is  an  unfair  representation  of 
Christ's  words.  What  Jesus  said  was  that  "there  will  arise 
false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  they  will  show  signs  and 
wonders  [not  'miracles  of  similar  kind,'  as  Celsus  affirms], 
and  they  will  lead  astray,  if  possible,  even  the  elect."  !N"ow, 
the  difficulty  involved  in  the  representation  of  Celsus  is  not 
etymological^  hut  psychological.  It  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
meanings  of  the  words  "signs  and  wonders,"  but  in  the 
failure  to  make  the  intended  application  of  the  words.  "  For 
'signs  and  wonders'  may  alike  be  properly  applied  to  deeds 
whether  good  or  evil.  It  is  the  usus  which  determines  the 
application.     We  must  take  the  writer's  standpoint,  think  his 


154         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

thoughts  as  he  thought  them,  and  take  the  same  sense  which 
he  intended.  Usually  the  context  settles  the  meaning  of  an 
author.  So  in  this  Scripture.  Jesus  said  in  the  good  sense : 
"Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders  ye  will  not  believe."^  At 
another  time,  using  the  same  words  in  a  bad  sense,  he  says: 
"  There  will  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  will 
show  [not  the  same,  but]  great  signs  and  wonders,  insomuch 
that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  would  deceive  the  very  elect."  ^ 
They  are  the  same  words  truly,  but  not  the  same  ^^  signs  and 
wondersr^^  The  "signs  and  wonders"  of  the  false  Christ 
expressly  '•''deceive  the  very  elect  f  the  "signs  and  wonders" 
of  the  true  Christ  confirm  and  establish  the  truth.  Deceitful 
signs  never  disprove  the  true  signs  which  are  miraculous,  any 
more  than  the  counterfeit  disproves  the  genuineness  of  the 
true  bank's  issue.  Jannes  and  Jambres,  who  withstood  Moses 
before  Pharaoh,  imitated  the  miracles  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  but 
finally  confessed  their  failure,  acknowledging  that  those  of 
Moses  and  Aaron  were  wrought  "5y  thefim^ger  of  Ood^^  Paul 
also  differences  the  signs  which  were  true  from  those  that 
were  false  when  he  refers  to  "  the  working  of  Satan  with  all 
power  and  signs  and  lying  wondersP  * 

5.  Porphyry  (270),  as  reported  by  Colonia, 

"  Acknowledges  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man  illustrious  for  piety,  and 
that  he  is  more  powerful  than  ^sculapius  and  all  the  other  [Greek] 
gods."  27 

iEsculapius,  in  Greek  mythology,  was  the  god  of  the  heal- 
ing art.  Hamann  forcefully  remarks,  "Miracles  can  not  be 
believed  without  a  miracle."  Probably  they  are  inconceivable 
a  priori.     At  least  this  testimony  of  Porphyry,  while  conced- 

*  An  Instance  In  point  Is  the  case  of  the  famous,  or  Infamous,  Bar-Kokheba, 
"the  son  of  a  star,"  who  succeeded  in  raising  rebellion  of  the  Jews  against  the 
Romans  In  A.  D.  135,  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian.  "According  to  Jerome,  this  Im- 
postor pretended  to  vomit  flames  by  means  of  a  piece  of  lighted  tow  which  he 
kept  In  his  mouth  1"  After  his  capture  and  death,  his  followers  called  him  Bar- 
Kozeba,  '■^the  non  of  a  lie." 

"27;/iiera  Kal  r^para,  John  Iv,  48.  «<  Matt,  xxlv,  24;  Mark  xlU,  22. 

^S7;/ue?a  fxeydXa  kolI  rdpara,  Matt,  xxlv,  24. 

a>  Comp.  Ex.  vUl,  18, 19,  and  2  Tim.  ill,  8.  *'  Cited  by  Lard,  vll,  445. 


The  Pkoof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.    155 

ing  so  much  from  his  standpoint,  illustrates  how  difficult  it  is 
for  an  intelligent  and  honest  heathen,  as  compared  with  an 
intelligent  Jew,  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  value  of  a 
miracle,  unless  a  miracle  were  wrought  directly  before  his 
own  eyes.  He  has  never  for  a  moment  been  in  the  sphere  of 
the  miraculous.  He  has  no  conception  of  a  power  above  or 
apart  from  nature  except  the  arts  of  the  magician. 

6.  Hierocles  (303)  was  one  of  the  worst  enemies  that 
Christianity  ever  had  to  encounter.  He  was  the  instigator 
and  director  of  the  fearful  persecution  which  raged  in  the 
reign  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian  (303-306),  when  Christian 
churches  were  razed,  the  Scriptures  burned  in  public,  the 
Christians  deposed  from  office,  deprived  of  their  civil  rights, 
and  compelled  to  sacrifice  to  false  gods  under  penalty  of 
death.  Hierocles,  so  far  from  denying  that  Christ  wrought 
miracles,  admits  the  fact  fully,  but  seeks  to  depreciate  and 
disparage  their  evidential  value  by  comparing  them  with 
fictitious  tricks  related  of  one  Apollonius.     He  says : 

"They  are  continually  crying  up  Jesus  for  opening  the  eyes  of  the 
blind,  and  other  like  works.  .  .  .  But  in  the  time  of  our  ancestors, 
in  the  reign  of  Nero,  flourished  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  who  having, 
when  very  young,  sacrificed  at  ^Egis  in  Cilicia  to  that  good  god  ^scula- 
pius,  wrought  many  and  wonderful  works.  .  .  .  We  do  not  esteem 
him  who  did  these  things  as  a  god,  but  a  man  favored  by  the  gods; 
whereas  they  [the  Christians]  for  the  sake  of  a  few  tricks  called  Jesus 
God.  .  .  .  Christ,  it  seems,  must  be  reckoned  a  magician,  because  he 
did  many  wonderful  things."^ 

7.  Julian  (361)  also  bears  an  important,  though  unwilling, 
testimony  to  the  miracles  of  Jesus.     He  admits  that — 

He  "rebuked  the  winds,  and  walked  on  the  sea,  and  cast  out 
demons,  and,  as  you  will  have  it,  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth — 
though  none  of  his  disciples  presumed  to  say  this  of  him  except  John 
only,  nor  he  clearly  and  distinctly.  However,  let  it  be  allowed  that  he 
said  so."  "  But  Jesus  .  .  .  having  done  nothing  in  his  lifetime 
worthy  of  remembrance — unless  one  thinks  it  a  mighty  matter  to  heal  the 
lame  and  blind  people,  and  exorcise  demoniacs  in  the  villages  of  Bethsaida 
and  Bethany."^ 

«8 Cited  by  Lard.  vU,  478,  479,  476.         »  Tb.  vll,  627. 


156         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


ANALYSIS  AND  SUMMARY. 

An  analysis  of  the  testimonies  of  these  Roman  magnates  is 

now  in  place.     Hierocles  concedes  at  least  that ''  Christ  must  be 

reckoned  a  masrician  because  he  did  many  wonder- 

S 129.  The  ,  '='  "^ 

Roman  f ul  things ;"  and  Porphyry  confesses  that  he  was 
es  imorues.  ^^  j^^pg  powerful  than  ^Esculapius  and  all  the  other 
gods"  in  these  deeds;  while  Celsus  frankly  acknowledges  that 
Jesus  truly  possessed  "  miraculous  powers."  The  following  per- 
sons designate  the  Mnd  and  variety  of  miracles  wrought  by 
Christ.  Celsus  affirms  that  Jesus  "feeding  the  multitude 
with  a  few  loaves,"  did  "heal  the  lame  and  the  blind,"  and 
"raised  the  dead,"  who  also  "made  the  heavens  and  the  earth;" 
Hierocles,  that  he  "opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  other 
like  works;"  Julian,  that  he  "rebuked  the  winds,  and  walked 
the  sea,  healed  the  lame  and  blind  people,  and  exorcised 
demoniacs  in  the  villages  of  Bethsaida  and  Bethany."  These 
writers  speak  not  only  for  themselves,  but  also  for  the  great 
and  intelligent  populations  behind  them. 

The  consensus  of  these  ancient  adversaries  is  to  the  effect 
that,  as  a  fact^  Jesus  Christ  actually  wrought  miracles.  But 
S130  Heathen  they  felt  that  they  must  explain  the  fact;  and 
Explanations,  their  explanations  of  the  power  by  which  these 
effects  were  produced,  differ.  But  miracles  in  their  very 
nature  are  inexplicable.  The  fact  conceded  is  one  thing,  and 
an  adversary's  conception  of  the  fact  is  another.  Besides, 
opinio7is  are  inadmissible  as  matters  of  evidences.  To  desig- 
nate miracles  as  "few  tricks,"  as  Hierocles  has  done  to  mini- 
mize their  force  or  character,  does  not  make  them  tricks.  To 
represent  Jesus  as  "a  God-hated  Sorcerer"  as  Celsus  does,  is 
merely  the  heathen  manner  of  explaining  by  calling  names. 
Assertion  is  not  proof.  We  are  dealing  now  exclusively  with 
the  conceded  fact  as  historical,  that  the  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity wrought  astonishing  "  signs  and  wonders"  in  vindica- 
tion of  his  claim  as  the  predicted  Messiah  and  Redeemer  of 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     157 

the  world.  Jesus  himself  said:  "Believe  me  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  me ;  or  else  believe  7ne  for  the  very 
works'  saker^ 

It  may  be  objected  that  these  concessions  were  not  made 
by  contemporaries  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  miraculous 
events  conceded.     The  reply  is  that,  for  the  veri-  ^ ,  ^,   ^^. 

^  ''  '  _       §131.  Objec- 

fication  of  history,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  his-  tion  con- 
torian  himself  should  have  witnessed  the  facts 
which  he  records  in  order  to  render  them  historical.  But  at 
the  very  beginning,  on  the  birthday  of  the  Christian  Church, 
the  apostle  Peter  vindicated  the  claim  by  his  appeal  to  those 
who  were  contemporaries  and  witnesses  of  the  events  alleged, 
when  he  said  to  the  gathered  thousands  at  Jerusalem : 

"Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of  God  unto  you,  by  mighty 
works  and  wonders  and  signs,  which  God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  you, 
even  as  ye  yourselves  know,     .     .     .     whereof  we  all  are  ivitnesses."  ^^ 

Such  was  but  the  beginning  of  the  proof  respecting  the 
historicity  of  the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  the  continuance  of 
the  evidence  by  the  testimony  of  enemies  in  the  centuries 
succeeding  is  but  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  case ;  for  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  miraculous  occurrences  were  by  no 
means  limited  to  Christ's  life.  The  apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors, in  Christ's  name  and  power,  continued  to  work  miracles 
for  several  centuries  afterwards,  until  the  Christian  religion  had 
demonstrated  its  own  supernatural  character;  then  the  func- 
tion of  miracles  had  ceased,  and  they  were  retired  from  the 
world.  Those  ancient  adversaries  were  the  contemporaries  of 
those  miraculous  events,  and  must  be  allowed  to  have  testified 
advisedly  in  what  they  affirm ;  for  how  otherwise  is  it  to  be 
accounted  for  that  those  so  hostile  to  Christianity  came  to 
have  the  conviction,  and  to  make  those  concessions,  were 
there  no  historical  grounds  for  their  belief?  The  conviction 
was  there;  and  it  is  for  him  who  rejects  this  explanation  to 
furnish  a  better.     How  did  the  belief  originate?     And  is  it 

sojohnxlv,  11;  comp.v,86;  x,37,38;  xv,24.       3»  Acts  11,22,32.    See  also  pp.  147, 148, 


158         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


reasonable  to  suppose  that  these  several  adversaries  arrived 
at  the  same  conclusion  respecting  miraculous  occurrences  with- 
out any  basis  in  actual  facts?  What  but  the  facts  gave  rise 
to  these  heathen  conceptions?  It  must  be  allowed  that  there 
was  no  felt  necessity  among  them,  except  that  imposed  by 
history.  They  testify  as  independent  witnesses,  from  different 
countries,  in  different  centuries,  in  substantial  agreement,  in 
one  conclusion.  They  affirm  that  Jesus  rebuked  the  winds, 
walked  the  sea,  fed  the  multitude,  opened  blind  eyes,  cleansed 
the  leper,  cast  out  demons,  and  even  raised  the  dead  to  life. 
For  what  reason  should  such  testimony  from  such  sources  go 
for  nothing?  What  is  the  justifying  ground  for  rejecting 
this  testimony,  except  for  the  one  reason  that  these  adver- 
saries of  Christianity  affirm  occurrences  which  are  recorded 
in  the  contents  of  the  several  Gospels?  Much  more  dis- 
cernment and  character  were  requisite  for  such  witnesses  to 
yield  credence  to  Christian  miracles  than  are  required  now, 
at  this  distance  of  time,  to  deny  their  occurrence.  The  ques- 
tion of  miracles  is  a  matter  of  history,  and  should  be  treated 
in  an  historical  spirit. 

g  132.    Friends  Conflrm  the  Enemies'  Testimony. 

8.  Origen  (247):  "The  name  of  Jesus  can  still  remove  distractions 
from  the  minds  of  men,  expel  demons,  and  also  take  away  diseases,  and 
produce  a  marvelous  meekness  of  spirit  and  complete  change  of  char- 
acter." ^2 

9.  Tertullian  (200):  "As  then  under  the  force  of  their  [Judaistic] 
prejudgment  they  convinced  themselves  from  his  lowly  guise  that 
Christ  was  no  more  than  a  man,  as  a  necessary  consequence  it  followed 
from  that,  they  should  hold  him  [to  be]  a  magician,  from  the  powers 
which  he  displayed;  expelling  devils  from  men  by  word,  restoring 
sight  to  the  blind,  cleansing  the  leprous,  reinvigorating  the  paralytic, 
summoning  the  dead  to  life  again,  making  the  very  elements  of  nature 
obey  him,  stilling  the  storms,  and  walking  on  the  sea;  proving  that  he 
was  the  Logos  of  Ood."^^ 

10.  Irenfeus  (177):  "  It  is  not  possible  to  name  the  number  of  gifts 
which  the  Church  throughout  the  whole  world  has  received  from  God 

*tContr.  Cels.  B.  1,  c.  Ixvii.  iii>  Apol.  c.  xxi. 


The  Proof  of  Miracles  Wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.     159 

in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  .  which  she  exerts  day  by  day  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Gentiles,  neither  practicing  deception  upon  any,  nor 
taking  any  reward  from  them.  .  .  .  Calling  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  she  has  been  accustomed  to  work  miracles  for  the 
advantage  of  mankind.  ...  If  therefore,  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  even  now  confers  benefits,  and  cures  thoroughly  and  effect- 
ively all  who  anywhere  believe  on  him  ...  it  is  manifest  that 
.     .     .     [he]  did  all  things  truly  through  the  power  of  God."^* 

11.  Quadratus  (125) :  "Our  Savior's  works  were  always  present:  for 
they  were  real,  consisting  of  those  who  had  been  healed  of  their  dis- 
eases, those  who  have  been  raised  from  the  dead,  who  were  seen  not 
only  while  they  were  being  healed  and  raised  up,  but  were  afterwards 
constantly  present  [with  the  living].  Nor  did  they  remain  only  during 
the  sojourn  of  the  Savior  on  earth,  but  also  a  considerable  time  after 
his  departure ;  indeed  some  of  them  have  survived  even  down  to  our 
own  time."^* 

12.  Arabic  Writer  (name  and  place  unknown):  "We  know  that  the 
people  called  Christians  founded  their  religion  on  parables  and  mir- 
acles."^* 

The  important  features  of  this  testimony  should  now  be 
carefully  noted.  Origen,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century, 
testifies  that  Christ's  power  "still  removed  dis-  ^^^^  g^^_ 
tractions  of  mind,  cured  diseases,  expelled  de-  mary. 
mons,  and  revolutionized  character."  Fifty  years  earlier,  Ter- 
tuUian  testifies  that  Christ  "expelled  demons  from  men, 
restored  sight  to  the  blind,  cleansed  lepers,  reinvigorated  the 
paralytic,  making  the  very  elements  of  nature  obey  him."  A 
quarter  of  a  century  still  earlier,  Irenaeus  relates  how  that 
"the  Church  throughout  the  world"  received  power  from 
God  "to  work  miracles  for  the  advantage  of  mankind." 
About  fifty  years  yet  earlier,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  second 
century,  Quadratus  mentions  that  persons  then  survived  who 
illustrated  "our  Savior's  works,"  men  "who  had  been  healed 
of  their  diseases,"  and  "  those  who  had  been  raised  from  the 
dead."  And,  finally,  an  unknown  Arabic  writer  affirms  that 
"the  people  called  Christians  founded  their  religion  on  par- 
ables and  miracles." 

"  yldw.  Heresies,  B.  11,  c.  32,  4,  5.  35 Euseb.  E.  H.  Iv,  3. 

3«MS.  of  Galen  In  Smith  and  Wace's  Diet. 

11 


160         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

These  testimonies  do  more  than  confirm  the  adversaries' 
witness  to  miracles.  They  invariably  ascribe  the  contimo- 
ance  of  this  imperishable  power  to  Christ's  own  personality,  as 
they  were  miracles  wrought  in  his  name.  He  endued  his  fol- 
lowers to  do  mightier  works  than  those  which  he  himself  had 
done.^  To  realize  the  full  force  of  these  several  attestations 
of  friends  and  foes,  their  testimonies  must  not  be  taken  sep- 
arately, but  together  in  combination,  as  the  cable  of  power 
results  from  the  union  of  the  several  strands  composing  it, 
which  grapples  the  ship  to  shore. 

wjohnxlv,  12. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CHAKACTEKISTICS  AND  YALUE  OF  CHKIST'S 
MIKACLES. 

I.  Miracles  as  Discriminated  from  Jugglery. 

II.  Place  of  Miracles  in  the  Redemptive  Scheme. 
in.  Miracles  as  Christo-centric  in  Character. 
IV.  Relation  of  Miracles  to  Epochs  and  Progress. 

V.  Evidential  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles. 
161 


Chapter  YII. 

CHARACTERISTICS  AND  VALUE  OF  CHRIST'S 
MIRACLES. 

§  134.  Soiirces :  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literature. 

1.  John  Chrysostom:  (347-407),  the  celebrated  "  golden-mouthed '*  ora- 

tor of  the  ancient  Church,  was  a  native  of  Antioch,  Syria.  He 
studied  rhetoric  in  the  school  of  the  famous  Sophist,  Libanius, 
who  deemed  Chrysostom  to  be  his  best  scholar,  and  desired  him 
to  become  his  own  successor  as  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Elo- 
quence. Afterward  he  studied  philosophy  and  law.  Abandoning 
these,  he  finally  became  a  devout  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
acquired  the  fame  of  being  the  most  eloquent  preacher  in  the  an- 
cient Church.  In  A.  D.  398  he  was  appointed  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  had  St.  Sophia  for  his  church.  Living  most  ab- 
stemiously himself,  he  gave  away  his  income  to  help  the  sick  and 
poor  about  him,  and  was  greatly  revered.  His  purity  of  life, 
added  to  his  remarkable  exegetical  abilities,  gave  him  a  thor- 
oughly practical  trend  in  his  teachings.  His  courage  to  reform 
extended  to  the  imperial  court,  whose  vices  he  criticised  publicly 
because  publicly  practiced.  In  consequence,  he  was  banished  by 
the  Empress  Eudoxia  in  the  year  407.  He  died  aged  sixty.  His 
best  works  are  his  sermons  on  Genesis,  the  Psalms,  and  Homilies 
on  most  of  the  New  Testament.  His  published  writings  number 
thirteen  volumes. 

2.  John  G.  Hamann   (1730-1788)  was  a  native  of  Prussia.     He   studied 

philosophy,  philology,  theology,  and  law.  Somewhat  eccentric,  he 
designated  himself  "The  Northern  Magian,"  a  title  by  which  he 
is  yet  known.  He  found  strong  friends  in  such  men  as  F.  E.  Ja- 
cobi,  Berden,  and  Goethe.  His  miscellaneous  writings  were  pub- 
lished in  Berlin  in  1821-1843,  in  eight  volumes,  which  have  attracted 
attention,  especially  since  his  death  in  Germany. 

3.  Richard  Rothe  (1799-1867)  was  a  theological  student  at  Heidelberg. 

"  He  became  successively  a  member,  professor,  director,  ephorus 
[superintendent]  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Wittenberg." 
This  was  in  1828.     In  1837  he  was  appointed  professor  of  the  Uni- 

163 


164         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

versity  of  Heidelberg,  in  1849  in  Bonn,  and  again  at  Heidelberg  in 
1854.  He  was  prominent  as  a  dogmatic  and  historical  writer. 
Since  his  death  his  lectures  have  appeared,  entitled  Dogmatik 
(1870),  and  his  Church  History  (1875). 

4.  Jean  Paul  Richter  was  born  in  1763,  at  Wunsiedel,  Bavaria ;  in  1781 

he  attended  the  University  of  Leipsic,  and  afterward  in  poverty 
became  a  teacher  and  author.  He  was  remarkably  brilliant.  It 
has  been  said  that  "  no  writer  has  made  such  brilliant  remarks, 
and  no  ten  have  made  so  many."  His  writings  comprise  sixty-five 
volumes. 

5.  Theodore  Christlieb  (b.  1833)  was  a  man  of  very  remarkable  genius 

and  erudition.  His  birthplace  was  Wixrtemberg.  He  studied  in 
Tubingen,  taught  in  France,  preached  in  London,  and  died  in 
Prussia.  He  was  Professor  of  Theology  in  Bonn.  In  1873  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  New  York,  where  he  ac- 
quired great  fame.  In  1874,  Dr.  Christlieb  published  in  English  his 
great  work  entitled  Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,  consisting 
of  eight  lectures  of  a  powerful  apologetic  character. 

g  135.  Characteristics  of  Christ's  Miracles. 

I  do  not  hereby  deny  in  the  least  that  God  can  do,  or  hath  done,  mira- 
cles for  the  confirmation  of  the  Truth. — John  Locke. 

With  each  miracle  worked  there  was  a  truth  revealed,  which  thence- 
forward was  to  act  as  its  substitute ;  .  .  .  for  reason  and  re- 
ligion are  their  own  evidence. — Coleridge. 

It  is  God's  will  by  means  of  the  miraculous  to  reveal  to  men  who  were 
blinded  by  sin. — R.  Rothe. 

How  did  men  ever  arrive  at  the  conception  of  a  miracle  if  not  through 
witnessing  the  workings  of  a  Divine  Omnipotence  which  was  ut- 
terly beyond  human  comprehension? — Anonymous. 

Miracles  can  not  be  believed  without  a  miracle. — Hamann. 

We  have  seen  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  miracle  of  histoi*y.  .  .  . 
The  elimination  of  the  miraculous  element  from  the  Gospel  his- 
tory can  never  take  place  without  a  deep  injury  or  even  a  total 
destructive  alteration  of  the  entire  substance  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion.— Christlieb. 

"0  Ilar^p  (wv  iu)(^  dpri  ipyd^erai,  Kayd)  ip-yd^ofiai — "My  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work." — Jesus. 

ARGUMENT. 

Miracles,  as  the  attesting  signs  of  Christ's  mission  and  truth  proclaimed 
on  earth,  are  to  be  justly  discriminated  from  the  vulgar  pretense 
and  arts  of  the  magician,  sorcerer,  or  juggler.  The  one  is  a  re- 
vealing act  to  authenticate  a  given  truth  or  fact  invaluable  to  hu- 
manity ;  the  other  is  a  concealing  art  which  practices  deceit  upon 


Chakacteristics  and  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles.     165 

the  natural  senses.  Miracles  are  permanent  in  character  and  be- 
nign in  results ;  sorcery  is  transient  and  trivial,  and  worthless 
throughout.  So  far  from  having  anything  in  common,  they  have 
in  history  proved  themselves  antagonistic,  in  that  miracles  have 
opposed  the  magician's  arts  with  a  destructive  energy,  and  the 
Scriptures  not  only  denounce  his  procedures  as  impositions,  but 
subjected  the  magician  or  sorcerer  to  punishment. 

The  miracles  of  Jesus  are  not  to  be  characterized  as  mere  ab- 
stract facts,  casually  introduced  into  Christ's  life  as  having  a  tem- 
porary relation  to  his  work.  They  belong  to,  and  are  identified 
with,  the  whole  redemptive  system  of  Christianity.  Contemplated 
aright,  they  will  be  found  to  have  been  full  of  benignity  and  be- 
neficence to  men.  Miracles  are  a  great  factor  and  force  in  the 
restorative  scheme  of  human  salvation.  The  words  employed  in  the 
New  Testament  to  express  the  idea  of  miracles  are  "  wonders," 
"works,"  "powers,"  "signs:"  words  so  far  as  words  can  convey, 
not  that  which  occurs  on  natural  principles  which  can  be  explained, 
but  that  which  supernaturally  supervenes  in  attestation  of  Christ's 
work  on  earth,  and  to  inspire  faith  in  his  restorative  disposition 
and  power.  The  miracles  of  the  New  Testament  are  strictly 
Christo-centric  in  character. 

In  God's  progressive  Revelation,  miracles  have  an  epochal  his- 
tory. They  were  initiative  of  new  eras  closely  related  to  the  spir- 
itual condition  and  advancement  of  the  Church.  They  served  to 
inaugurate  highly  important  movements  and  periods ;  and  when 
the  object  of  their  existence  was  secured  they  were  retired.  Thus 
their  evidential  value  is  discoverable  in  the  very  structure  and 
organization  of  the  Christian  system. 

1.  Miracles  as  Discriminated  from  Jugglery. 

2.  Place  of  Miracles  in  the  Redemptive  Scheme. 

3.  Miracles  as  Christo-centric  in  Character. 

4.  Relation  of  Miracles  to  Epochs  and  Progress. 

5.  The  Evidential  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles. 

A  just  distinction  exists  between  the  works  known  as  mir- 
acles and  the  arts  of  magician  or  juggler.  In  the  nature  of 
the  case  it  is  not  possible  to  make  a  scientific  ^jgg  j^racies 
analysis  of  the  internal  laws  and  process  which  and  Magic. 
produce  miraculous  occurrences,  for  the  insuperable  reason 
that  they  are  wrought  by  supernatural  power,  which  is  in- 
scrutable. As  was  forcibly  expressed  by  Schelling,  "  Nothing 
is  more  doleful  than  the  occupation  of  all  rationalists  who 
strive  to  make  that  rational  which  declares  itself  above  all 
reason."     On  the  contrary,  it  is  often  difficult  for  a  spectator 


166         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

to  detect  and  expose  the  arts  of  the  magician  or  sorcerer,  who 
conceals  completely  his  methods.  Externally,  however,  both 
may  be  known  by  their  respective  characteristics,  trend,  and 
effects.  The  better  judgment  of  every  intelligent  person  intu- 
itively detects  any  sleight-of-hand  tricks  as  a  deception  of  the 
senses.  Indeed,  the  fact  is  often  avowed,  and  sometimes  even 
exposed  as  a  matter  of  pleasant  entertainment,  by  the  per- 
former himself.  But  when  one  attempts  to  assume  the  role 
of  the  impostor,  to  represent  in  some  sense  the  interests  of  re- 
ligion, it  appears  in  its  worst  possible  form,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  so-called  "spiritualism"  which  has  been  so  repeatedly  and 
completely  exposed  as  an  impious  fraud. 

From  the  time  of  Celsus  until  the  present  there  has  been  a 
disposition,  if  not  a  determination,  on  the  part  of  certain  skep- 
tics to  identify  miracles  with  the  magician's  or 

§  1 37.  The  Two  -^  ° 

Classes  Dif-  similar  arts,  when  they  could  be  easily  refuted. 
This  clearly  betrays  a  want  of  insight  into  the 
real  characteristics  which  discriminate  the  two.  It  is  there- 
fore worth  while  to  compare  them  as  to  their  trend  and  effects, 
and  indicate  what  possible  relation  the  one  sustains  to  the 
other.  This  is  discoverable  in  the  point  of  contact,  as  has  not 
unf  requently  occurred  in  the  history  of  miracles. 

So  far  from  miracles  being  one  with  sorcery,  their  attitude 
toward  each  other  has  been  that  of  open  hostility  wherever 
they  have  been  found  in  contact.  They  are  the  two  camps  of 
enemies  at  war.  Sacred  history  records  a  standing  protest 
against  sorcery  and  all  kindred  arts.  The  Mosaic  law  not  only 
denounces  the  practice,  but  provides  for  its  instant  punishment 
as  frauds  perpetrated  upon  the  people.^  Not  unf  requently  the 
worker  of  miracles  was  encountered  in  a  given  crisis  with  the 
false  pretense  and  tricks  of  sorcery.  As  Jannes  and  Jambres 
withstood  Moses  when  he  wrought  miracles  in  the  presence  of 
Pharaoh; 2  as  the  followers  of  the  pagan  god  Baal  publicly 
contested  against  Jehovah  at  Mount  Carmel,  each  party  call- 
ing down  fire  from  heaven  in  turn,  that  the  proposed  offering 

1  Ex.  xxll,  18;  Levlt.  xlx,  26;  Deut.  xvlU,  9-14.  »  Ex.  vU-xl ;   1  Tim.  ili,  8. 


Characteristics  and  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles.     167 

upon  the  altar  might  be  consumed,^  so  in  the  history  of  the 
New  Testament  some  of  the  most  formidable  antagonists  of 
the  apostles  and  their  work  were  sorcerers  and  exorcists.  At 
Samaria,^  Philip  the  deacon  encountered  one  Simon  Magus,  the 
magician  of  fame  or  infamy,  who  had  acquired  a  great  influ- 
ence over  the  community ;  but  no  work  of  wonder  is  ascribed 
to  his  power,  and  he  was  admitted  on  repentance  to  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  early  Church.  At  Paphos,  on  the  island  of 
Cyprus,  Elymas,  a  Jewish  sorcerer,^  withstood  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas in  the  presence  of  the  ruler,  Sergius  Paulus,  when  he 
was  smitten  with  blindness  for  a  time.  At  Philippi,^  a  slave 
damsel  "  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  divination,"  who  brought  her 
master  great  gains,  on  whom  Paul  wrought  the  miracle  of  dis- 
possession; for  which  the  magistrates  commanded  Paul  and 
Silas  to  be  beaten  and  cast  into  the  prison  and  their  feet  made 
fast  in  stocks.  At  Ephesus,'^  certain  "  vagabond  Jews,  exor- 
cists," undertook  to  work  miracles  over  them  who  had  evil 
spirits,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  saying,  "We  adjure  you 
by  Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth ;"  but  the  man  possessed 
leaped  upon  them  and  drove  them  out  naked  and  wounded. 

There  is  and  can  be  neither  identity  nor  resemblance  where 
all  is  hostile.  While  the  apostles  wrought  to  dispossess  and 
give  liberty  and  comfort  to  the  aiflicted,  the  sorcerers  were 
trying  to  retain  in  servitude  the  soul  of  the  afflicted  for  the 
end  of  gains.  The  issue  between  them  was  complete.  Ac- 
cordant with  the  history  of  the  facts  is  the  teaching  of  Paul 
concerning  "  the  working  of  Satan  with  all  power,  and  signs, 
and  lying  wonders,  and  with  all  deceit  of  unrighteousness  for 
them  that  perish."  As  remarked  by  the  distinguished  R.  S. 
Poole,  of  the  British  Museum : 

"As  there  is  no  evidence  in  the  Bible  of  real  results  having  been 
worked  by  supernatural  agency  used  by  magicians,  we  may  draw  the  im- 
portant inference  that  the  absence  of  any  proof  in  profane  literature, 
ancient  or  modern,  in  no  way  militates  against  the  credibility  of  the 
miracles  recorded  in  Scripture."^ 

3 1  Kings  xvili,  17,  et  seq.  *  Acts  vlll,  5-13.  8  Acts  xlil,  6-12. 

•Acts  xvi,  16,  et  seq.  i  Acts  xix,  13-19. 

8  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Hackett's  ed.  Vol.  II,  p.  1753,  on  "  Magic." 


168         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaisient. 

From  these  facts  several  inductions  are  warranted,  viz. : 

1.  Jugglers  of  whatever  "name — exorcists,  sorcerers,  magi, 
cians,  witches,  all  meaning  false  arts  with  possible  differences 

§  138.  Some    i^  pretense — differentiate  themselves  in  every  in- 
inductions.    stance  of  coutact  from  the  miracle-worher  of  the 
Scriptures  by  the  very  attitude   they  so  naturally  assumed 
toward  real  miracles,  as  well  as  by  the  arts  in  which  they  prac- 
ticed impostures. 

2.  In  spirit  and  purpose,  which  give  character  to  the  act, 
jugglers  were  openly  and  absolutely  hostile  to  the  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  those  who  wrought  miracles.  They  are  invariably  found 
in  contention  against  miracles. 

3.  In  every  instance  recorded  of  antagonisms  between  them, 
the  sorcerer  or  magician  tooh  the  initiative  in  active  opposition 
to  the  movements  of  the  miracle-worker,  and  was  crushed  in 
his  aggression. 

4.  The  Scriptures  repeatedly  denounce  the  practices  of  the 
magicians  as  being  criminal,  and  not  only  forbade  the  arts  in 
Israel,  but  affixed  to  the  law  in  the  case  the  severest  penalty 
for  the  punishment  of  the  impostors. 

5.  Jugglery  was  as  selfish  and  mercenary  as  it  was  sinful ; 
upon  the  contrary,  miracles  were  purely  beneficent,  without 
the  hope  of  reward  from  any  parties. 

6.  The  arts  of  the  juggler  or  sorcerer  were  practiced  in 
part  to  exalt  the  performer  in  the  esteem  of  the  populace ;  but 
miracles  were  wrought  in  reverential  spirit  toward  God,  in  en- 
tire self-abnegation,  that  men  through  the  power  of  Christ 
might  be  brought  to  realize  an  endless  salvation. 

7.  As  miracles  and  sorcery  differed  in  their  character,  so 
they  differed  in  their  results.  The  effects  of  sorcery  were 
invariably  frivolous^  degrading,  and  transient^  the  effects  of 
miracles  were  invariably  spiritual,  elevating,  and  permanent. 
In  spirit,  in  purpose,  in  power,  they  differed  at  every  point,  and 
agreed  in  none. 


Chakacteeistics  and  Yalue  of  Christ's  Miracles.     169 

So  self-evident  are  these  facts  that  an  allegation  which 
identified  miracles  with  magic  would  expose  the  author  to  the 
suspicion  of  superficiality  of  mind,  or  downright  perversity  of 
judgment. 

Dr.  Christlieb  remarks: 

"The  denial  of  miracles  leads  to  annihilation,  not  only  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  of  all  religions  tvhatever."  "Many  are  averse  to  the  mirac- 
ulous through  fear  of  superstition.  ...  In  this  they  overlook  the 
sharp  discrimination  of  Scripture  between  belief  and  superstition,  be- 
tween miraculous  power  and  witchcraft.  Whereas  the  heathen  sorcerer 
pretends  to  make  the  supernatural  powers  subservient  to  his  j)erson,  the 
prophet  or  apostle,  if  he  performs  a  miracle,  accounts  himself  only  the 
instrument  of  God.  .  .  .  Only  notice  the  noiseless  unobtrusiveness  of 
miracles  in  Holy  Scripture,  the  chastity  with  which  Christ  sharply  repels  the 
vain  curiosity  and  vulgar  thirst  of  his  age  of  wonders,  and  his  frequent  pro- 
hibition of  their  publication."^  "A  glance  at  the  internal  evidences  of 
truth  in  miracles,  at  the  moral  and  religious  character  which  reflects  and 
serves,  not  only  the  power  of  God,  but  also  his  truth  and  holiness,  and 
must  prove  pre-eminently  their  Divine  origin,  will  show  that  it  is  not  a 
very  difiicult  task  for  one  to  defend  his  belief  in  Biblical  miracles  against 
the  charge  of  superstition.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  however,  that  not 
the  believers  in  miracles,  but  their  deniers,  fall  most  easily  into 
superstition."^'' 

Dr.  Schenkel  observes  that — 

"When  men  no  longer  believe  in  God,  they  begin  to  believe  in 
ghosts !  In  truth,  there  has  scarcely  ever  been  an  age  in  which  men 
have  snatched  more  greedily  after  the  extravagant  than  our  own,  which 
derides  the  supernatural."^ 

It  must  be  remembered  that,  while  a  miracle  touches  with- 
out absolutely  impinging  upon  natural  forces,  it  has  to  do 
directly  with  man's  internal  and  spiritual  being.  §139.  Miracles 
We  err  eo^reo^iously  and  undervalue  the  worth  of  ^^^ 

,  °  Redemption 

miracles  when  we  regard  them  as  mere  abstrac- 
tions, apart  from  any  internal  relation  to  Eevelation  and  Ee- 
demption.     So  far  from  being  detached  circumstances,  they 

9Matt.  Ix,  30;  xil,  16,  38,39;  xvl,  1-4,  20;  Mark,  1,44;  111,12. 
10  Mod.  Doubt,  287,  297,  298.  "  Was  ist  Wahrheit  f  "  }V?iat  is  Truth  f"  S,  22. 


1 70         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

were  facts  incorporated  into  the  redemptive  scheme,  as  their 
internal  character  and  trend  imply.     As  Dr.  Christlieb  says: 

"  Not  merely  this  or  that  occurrence,  but  the  whole  foundation  of  the 
Gospel  history,  that  is  the  person  of  Christ  itself,  is  intrinsically  mirac- 
ulous from  beginning  to  end."  "  For  the  elimination  of  the  miraculous 
element  from  the  Gospel  history  can  never  take  place  without  a  deeply- 
penetrating  injury,  or  even  a  total  and  destructive  alteration  of  the  en- 
tire substance  of  the  Christian  religion."  ^^ 

In  bodily  derangements  the  remedies  known  to  medical 
science  restore  to  the  normal  condition  of  health  and  vigor. 
So  the  means  employed  in  redemption  contemplate  man's 
spiritual  restoration  to  the  plan  and  plane  of  life  intended  by 
his  Creator.  This  supposes  a  supreme  loss  by  reason  of  his 
lapse  through  sin.  Now,  the  miracles  wrought  upon  mankind 
in  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ  were  all  in  the  direction  of  be- 
neficence ;  were  in  trend  restorative  to  the  condition  of  ordinary 
life;  and  in  so  far  they  evidence  their  internal  relation  to  the 
redemptive  plan.  When  the  blind  were  given  their  sight; 
when  the  lepers  were  cleansed  from  deadly  malady ;  when  the 
lame  were  conditioned  anew  to  walk ;  when  the  deaf  were  en- 
abled to  hear;  when  the  dumb  had  given  them  the  power  of 
speech;  when  the  withered  hand  was  restored  whole  like  unto 
the  other;  when  the  sick  were  lifted  from  the  couch  into 
health;  when  the  dead  were  raised  to  life  again  from  the 
grave, — every  instance  was  of  the  nature  of  a  restoration  to  the 
common  estate  of  mankind,  proving  both  in  function  and  effect 
that  miracles  were  factors  in  the  plan  of  redemption  and  cre- 
dentials of  the  Divine  Redeemer. 

Miracles,  in  their  restorative  character  which  identifies 
them  with  a  great  organism,  have  not  always  received  the 
consideration  due  to  their  claim.  They  have  too  often  been 
treated  as  mere  single  occurrences,  rather  than  as  coherent 
parts  of  a  great  and  beneficent  system  looking  to  the  future 
life.  Clearly  miracles  are  not  merely  the  accompaniments  of 
a  Divine  message  or  of  the  Divine  Messenger,  but  are  an  in- 

^^  Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,  351. 


Characteristics  and  Yalue  of  Christ's  Miracles.     171 

tegral  part  of  that  organic  whole  which  we  call  Revelation 
and  Redemption. 

In  the  historical  New  Testament  five  different  words  in 
Greek  are  employed  to  express  the  fact  and  function  of  mir- 
acles.* They  are  descriptive  and  interchange-  ^^^  Termin- 
able terms  called  "s^^?is,"  as  attesting  Christ's  oiogy  of 
Messianic  character;  '■'■  wonders,^''  as  related  to 
him  whose  "ISTame  shall  be  called  Wonderful f^^  '■'"works^'* 
demonstrative  of  the  character  of  his  kingdom ;  and  '•'•  ■powers^'' 
with  special  reference  to  the  spiritual  forces  employed  to  carry 
forward  his  gracious  designs  in  human  salvation. 

In  so  far  as  miracles  are  Christo-centric,  they  are  neither 
natural  nor  unnatural,  but  supernatural.  Because  supernatural 
in  character,  they  are  not  to  be  placed  in  the  ^^^  Miraciea 
category  of  things  in  nature,  or  to  be  judged  by  as  ciiristo- 
sensible  standards.  Miracles  are  facts  to  be  at- 
tested through  the  senses  by  the  judgment,  yet  as  an  appeal  to 
our  spiritual  nature.  They  are  for  our  help,  but  not  subjected 
to  our  understanding.  For  even  the  forces  of  nature,  such  as 
gravitation  and  electricity,  though  known  as  facts  and  factors, 
are  not  in  their  nature  understood.     Miraculous  occurrences 


*Some  examples  as  illustrations: 

a.  ^'- A  Sign"  ((rr]/jxTov,  t6)  :  "  Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  thee.  (Matt, 
xii,  38.)  "  Signs  upon  the  earth."  (Acts  ii,  19.)  "  This  beginning  of  miracles  did 
Jesus  in  Cana."  (John  ii,  11.)  "This  is  again  the  second  sign  which  Jesus  did." 
(John  Iv,  54. 

b.  "A  Wonder"  (Oavfiaffiov,  t6)  :  "  When  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  saw  the 
wonderful  things  he  did,    .    .    .    they  were  sore  displeased."    (Matt,  xxl,  15.) 

Also  (T^pa?-,  t6,  "a  Wonder  "):  "  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heaven  above." 
(Acts  ii,  19.)  "  Except  ye  see  signs  and  tvonders,  ye  will  not  believe."  (John  iv,  48.) 
"  And  many  signs  and  wonders  were  done  by  the  apostles."    (Acts  ii,  43.) 

c.  "A  Work"  (epyov,  t6)  ;  "  ZTie  works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's  name,  these 
bear  witness  to  me."  "  Many  good  ivorks  have  I  showed  you  from  my  Father;  for 
which  of  these  do  ye  stone  me?"    (John  x,  25,  32.) 

d.  ^'' Power"  (dCva/ii^,  ii)  :  "Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom,  and  these 
mighty  works  f^  (Matt,  xiii,  54.)  "  He  did  not  many  mighty  works  there  because  of 
their  unbelief."  {lb.  xiii,  58.)  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of  God  unto 
you  by  mighty  works  (divafui;-),  and  wonders  (r^pag')  and  signs  (ffrj/ieiov) ,  which 
God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  you."    (Acts  ii,  22.) 

"  Isaiah  ix,  6. 


1 72         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

are  helpful  for  man's  recovery  from  the  deprivation  and  de- 
pravation which  sinning  has  imposed  upon  human  nature ;  be- 
ing restorative,  they  hold  an  internal  relation  to  Christ's 
kingdom  on  earth,  and  to  that  final  consmnmation  when  "  all 
things  shall  become  new,"  and  man  restored  shall  appear  in 
his  ancient  and  original  glory. 

a)  Accordingly,  miracles  appertain  to  the  personality  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whose  '^sigtis"  and  " works ^^  they  were,  whose 
^^ power"  and  ^^ wonders"  centered  in  himself  as  their  source. 
As  Dr.  Christlieb  wisely  remarks : 

"Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  miracle  of  history."  "  The  person  of 
Christ  itself  is  intrinsically  miraculous  from  beginning  to  end."  "  As  a 
rule,  anti-miraculists  will  not  admit  this.  They  imagine  that  miracles 
and  the  doctrines  resting  upon  them,  merely  belong  to  the  outworks  of 
Christianity,  and  that,  even  if  these  fall,  the  essential,  that  is,  the  moral 
truths  of  Christianity,  will  still  remain.  I  have  already  sought  to  show 
how  perverted  this  conception  of  Christianity  is.  Christianity  in  its  es- 
sence is  not  a  definite  quantity  of  moral  truths  or  teachings,  but  a  series 
of  facts.  It  is  Christ  himself,  his  person  and  work,  the  religion  of  the  incar- 
nation of  God  in  Christ,  and  the  redemption  of  the  world  therein  resulting. 
In  other  words,  Christianity  is  essentially  miraculous.  Its  Founder,  in 
his  personality  as  the  God-man,  is  the  Miracle  of  miracles.  .  .  .  Our 
Savior's  earthly  life  and  woi'k  from  his  sinless  birth  to  his  resurrection 
and  ascension — all  the  chief  facts  of  redemption — are  nothing  but  mir- 
acles." "  Miracles  can  be  understood  only  in  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  redemption."" 

/8)  But  the  Christo-centric  character  of  miracles  in  the 
Gospels  will  become  the  more  evident  as  we  contemplate  them 
as  having  their  center  and  source  in  Jesus  alone.  They  were 
wrought  by  the  exercise  of  his  power.  They  were  wrought 
by  himself  in  person.  They  were  wrought  as  credentials  of 
his  character  and  mission.  They  were  wrought  to  advance 
the  spiritual  kingdom  of  which  he  was  King.  They  were 
wrought  in  the  interests  of  those  who  were  his  spiritual  sub- 
jects. His  Golden  Rule  was :  '•'■  According  to  your  faith  he  it 
tmto  you:  all  things  are  possible  to  God."^^  The  final  end  was 
redemption,  of  which  Christ  was  the  Redeemer. 

"  Mod.  Doubt,  etc.,  311,  286,  351.  is  Matt,  ix,  29;  xlx,  20;  Mark  x,  27. 


Characteristics  and  Yalue  of  Christ's  Miracles.     173 

In  the  idea  of  redemption  and  restoration  there  is  presup- 
posed an  original  order  of  life  and  holiness  which  had  been 
violated,  involving  a  ruptured  relation  with  God,  and  a  lapse 
into  a  condition  of  helpless  degeneracy  on  the  part  of  the  race. 
Sin  checked  the  progressive  development  marked  out  in  the 
creative  plan  as  a  scheme  of  living,  introducing  far-reaching 
disturbances,  "and  death  by  sin."  It  is  not  rational  to  believe 
that  a  God  of  infinite  sympathies  and  affection  would  not  seek 
to  remove  the  disabilities  entailed  upon  Adam's  posterity  at 
least,  who  had  no  part  in  the  original  transgression.  Surely, 
if  God  should  deliver  his  ancient  people  out  of  Egypt  "by  signs 
and  wonders  and  by  a  mighty  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm," 
so  much  the  more  would  he  seek  to  recover  a  whole  fallen 
world  from  their  spiritual  bondage.  As  a  part  of  the  redemp- 
tive system,  "miracles  do  not  unnaturally  break  through  na- 
ture, but  supernaturally  through  the  unnatural"  and  abnormal 
nature  produced  by  sinning.  Accordingly,  Christ  wrought 
miracles  by  his  own  inherent  power  as  the  Son  of  God ;  for  he 
that  said  to  the  paralytic,  "  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise,  take  up  thy 
bed  and  walk,"  said  also  to  him,  "  Son,  thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee."*« 

y)  Furthermore,  in  tracing  miracles  to  their  source  and 
origin,  it  is  to  be  especially  noted  that  the  apostles'  miracles 
were  wrought  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Their  success  was  inva- 
riably ascribed  to  Jesus."  On  all  occasions  under  examination 
they  were  careful  to  emphasize  this  fact.  When  they  wrought 
the  iirst  apostolic  miracle,  on  the  lame-born  at  the  Gate  Beau- 
tiful of  Jerusalem,  Peter  wrought  it  "  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth."  So  far  were  they  from  attempting  mirac- 
ulous deeds  in  their  own  name  or  power,  they  expressly  dis- 
claimed such  power  in  themselves.     They  said : 

"  Why  fasten  ye  your  eyes  on  us,  as  though  by  our  own  power  or 
holiness  we  had  made  him  to  walk?  .  .  .  By  faith  in  his  name  hath 
his  name  made  this  man  strong,  whom  ye  behold  and  know ;  yea,  the 


16  Matt.  Ix,  2-6.  "  Acts  iil,  6, 12, 16;  iv,  10, 16-19,  30;  xvi,  18. 


174         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

faith  which  is  through  him  hath  given  him  this  perfect  soundness  in  the 
presence  of  you  all."  Before  the  Sanhedrin  Peter  again  said:  "Ye 
rulers  of  the  people  and  elders,  if  we  this  day  are  examined  concerning 
a  good  deed  done  to  an  impotent  man,  by  what  means  this  man  is  made 
whole,  be  it  known  unto  you  all,  and  to  all  the  people  of  Israel,  that  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  ye  crucified,  whom  God  raised  from  the 
dead,  even  in  him  doth  this  man  stand  here  before  you  whole."  And  when  the 
Sanhedrists  had  conferred  together  privately,  they  said  :  "  What  shall  we 
do  with  these  men,  for  that  indeed  a  notable  miracle  hath  been  wrought 
through  them  is  manifest  to  all  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem,  and  we  can  not  deny  it. 
But  that  it  spread  no  further  among  the  people  let  us  threaten  them,  that 
they  speak  henceforth  to  no  man  in  this  name.  And  they  called  them,  and 
charged  them  not  to  speak  at  all  nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  ^ 

These  circumstances  justify  the  belief  that  the  miracles  of 
the  New  Testament  were  Christo-centric  and  as  such  were 
incorporated  into  the  redemptive  scheme  of  Christ. 

That  miracles  were  epochal  in  character  is  made  evident  by 
their  history.  Abraham,  the  progenitor  of  the  Hebrew  race, 
g  142  Miracles  ^^^  himself  Called  to  place  and  power  in  history 
and  Epochs,  through  supernatural  means,  during  that  period 
which  was  characterized  by  theophanies  and  visions,  which  was 
a  preparatory  period  for  that  of  miracles.  It  extended  dis- 
tinctively from  Adam  to  Moses  who  was  the  first  miracle 
worker.  As  already  seen,  in  cases  of  close  contact  between 
miraculous  power  and  the  powers  of  darkness,  so  far  from  col- 
lusion there  was  collision,  and  the  sorcerer  was  defeated  in  his 
opposition.  This  characteristic  marks  the  development  of  the 
Jewish  theocracy  from  the  beginning.  It  illustrates  what  was 
so  well  said  by  Eothe :  "  It  is  God's  will  by  means  of  the  mirac- 
ulous to  reveal  himself  to  men  who  are  blinded  by  their  sins." 
Whenever  wickedness  had  gained  an  ascendency  over  or  within 
Israel,  wonders  and  miracles  were  divinely  interposed  and 
wrought  deliverance  in  the  crisis.  A  new  impulse  was  thus 
given  to  the  theocratic  government  of  God's  people,  and  a  new 
epoch  was  realized  in  the  progress  of  their  religious  history. 
Hence,  miracles  helonged  to  crises^  and  marked  a  new  epoch  in 

"Acts  ill,  Iv. 


Charactekistics  and  "Value  of  Christ's  Miracles.      175 

the  course  of  the  ancient  faith,  and  produced  a  new  advance  in 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church. 

a)  When  Moses  (B.  C.  1500)  effected  deliverance  from 
Israel's  bondage  in  Egypt  the  first  epoch  of  the  miraculous 
began  in  the  theocratic  nationality.  Pharaoh  the  oppresssor 
with  determination  opposed  the  proposition  offered  him  by 
Moses  for  the  freedom  of  God's  people,  until  the  infliction  of 
the  ten  plagues  miraculously  administered  had  wrought  its 
work,^^  and  forced  the  obdurate  and  cruel  ruler  to  yield,  wisely 
though  grudgingly,  to  the  dictates  of  justice  and  judgment. 
Through  miracles  the  rights  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  the 
oppressed  were  obtained.  This  was  clearly  in  the  direction  of 
beneficence.  Within  three  months,  not  only  was  the  exodus 
of  Israel  accomplished  without  resort  to  battle  with  arms,  but 
the  Red  Sea  had  been  traversed  dry-shod  by  Israel ;  and  soon 
the  dusky  legislator  of  the  mountain  came  forth  from  the  face 
of  God,  bearing  to  his  people  that  wondrous  code  of  laws  by 
which  he  organized  more  than  half  a  million  of  slaves  from 
Egypt  into  a  formidable  nation,  destined  to  become  the  fore- 
most religious  nation  of  the  ancient  world.  It  is  the  same  code 
whose  principles  are  to-day  wrought  into  the  government  of 
the  very  best  and  foremost  civilizations  of  modern  times.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  Israel. 

/8)  The  second  period  began  in  the  time  of  the  prophet  Elijah* 
and  Elisha,  about  B.  C.  900,  when  a  general  apostasy  from  God 
prevailed.  The  people  of  Israel  were  rapidly  becoming  fol- 
lowers of  the  heathen  god  Baal,  when  miracles  were  again 
interposed,  the  kingdom  recovered  from  its  idolatry,  and  a  new 
epoch  in  the  religious  life  of  the  Jewish  Church  was  begun. 
The  crisis  culminated  on  Mount  Carmel;  and  its  result  seems 
to  have  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  Israel;  for  after  that 
event  no  more  miracles  were  wrought  until  the  time  of  Jesus 
Christ.     There  was  much  sinning  and  no  little  idolatry  prac- 

19  Ex.  vli— Ix.  «>  1  Kings  xvlli. 

12 


176  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ticed  thereafter,  which  called,  not  for  miracles,  but  for  the 
more  drastic  measure  of  captivity  for  seventy  years  in  Baby- 
lon. This  wrought  a  permanent  cure  of  Jewish  idolatry. 
"The  law  and  the  prophets  continued  until  John;"  but  the 
Baptist  wrought  no  miracles. 

y)  A  new  epoch  opened  with  the  coming  of  the  "  Man  of 
Nazareth,"  who  is  described,  by  one  who  knew  him  well,  as 
"  a  Man  approved  of  God  by  mighty  works  and  wonders  and 
signs,  which  God  did  by  him  in  the  midst"  of  the  people,  which 
for  magnitude  and  multitude  had  never  before  been  known  by 
mankind.  But  the  Christian  era  was  not  introduced  without 
witnessing  the  pre-eminent  crisis  brought  about  by  the  Jewish 
Church  when  it  rejected  alike  his  works  and  words,  and  cru- 
cified his  person.     Jesus  had  said  unto  them : 

"  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not;  but  if  I  do, 
though  ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works." ^'  "If  I  had  not  done 
among  them  the  works  which  none  other  did,  they  had  not  had  sin."^ 

This  stupendous  manifestation  of  miraculous  power  on  the 
part  of  Jesus  prepared  the  people  for  the  founding  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  against  which  the  very  gates  of  hell  have  not 
been  able  to  prevail.  But  this  gift  of  power  was  transmitted 
to  the  apostles  of  Christ  and  the  early  Church  to  win  and 
sustain  their  faith  in  Jesus  in  his  absence,  during  the  first  cen- 
turies covering  the  ten  great  persecutions  of  the  Christians. 
Then,  when  miracles  had  served  the  purpose  of  inaugurating 
epochal  periods  in  certain  crises  of  religious  history ;  when  Chris- 
tianity had  become  established  in  the  world,  and  reliance  was 
effected  and  realized  in  the  moral  and  religious  faith  and  ex- 
perience of  men,  miracles  had  done  their  appropriate  work,  and 
were  retired.  Thus,  as  marking  special  crises  and  inaugurating 
new  epochs  for  the  spiritual  progress  in  religious  history,  mir- 
acles had  their  place,  and  did  their  work.  As  Coleridge  has 
remarked  with  discrimination,  "With  each  miracle  worked, 

«  John  X,  37,  38.  « lb.  xv,  24. 


Charactekistics  and  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles.     177 

there  was  a  truth  revealed,  which  thenceforward  was  to  act  as 
its  substitute,  .  .  .  for  reason  and  religion  are  their  own 
evidence."^ 

Faith  is  justified  by  evidence.  As  free  and  rational  beings 
we  may  be  constrained  to  reason,  but  can  not  be  forced  to  be- 
lieve.    Proofs  are  evidential,  but  not  irresistible. 

'  §  143.  Miracles 

"Whoever  wills  to  doubt,  can  doubt."     But  in  the  and 

J,   ,■,  rrj    •      J.  ••         -I        Evidence. 

presence  or  the  sumcient  reason,  every  rational 
being  is  responsible  for  his  belief  in  that  which  he  ought  to 
believe,  when  he  understands  the  case,  Nevertheless,  all  evi- 
dences are  not  of  equal  worth.  Miracles  have  their  value 
evidently,  but  do  not  rank  as  the  highest  order  of  proof,  nor 
yet  as  the  lowest.  Certainly  they  are  not  to  be  disparaged 
and  discarded.  They  are  lower  in  rank  than  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  yet  higher  than  the  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist  re- 
specting Christ,  whose  witness  miracles  progressively  succeeded. 
They  were  especially  adapted  to  the  condition  of  mankind  when 
Jesus  appeared  among  men. 

"Jesus  said  unto  them,  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders  ye  will  not 
believe."^  "Ye  sent  unto  John,  and  he  hath  borne  witness  unto  the 
truth.  But  the  witness  which  I  have  is  gi'eater  than  that  of  John  ;  the 
very  works  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  accomplish,  the  very 
works  which  I  do,  bear  witness  of  me,  that  the  Father  hath  sent  me."^ 
"If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father  believe  me  not ;  but  if  I  do,  though 
ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works." ^  "If  I  had  not  done  among 
them  the  works  which  none  other  [man]  did,  they  had  not  had  sin."^ 
"Now,  when  he  was  at  Jerusalem  at  the  passover,  during  the  feast,  they 
believed  on  his  name,  beholding  his  signs  which  he  did."^ 

Obviously  miracles  were  presented  by  Jesus  himself,  not  as 
the  highest  order  of  evidence,  but  as  that  which  was  the  best 
adapted  to  the  times,  and  demanded  by  their  condition,  and 
intended  as  evidence  to  identify  his  Messiahship. 

In  matters  of  external  evidence,  as  human  nature  is  consti- 
tuted, we  are  more  powerfully  impressed  by  that  which  comes 
to  us  by  sensible  demonstration,  such  as  miracles  furnish,  than 

«3  Statesman's  Manual,  Vol.  I,  425.  «♦  John  iv,  48.  *5  75.  y^  gg. 

MJ6.x,37,38.  27  76.  XV,  24.  28/5.11,23. 


178         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

by  other  methods  of  conviction ;  whereas  "  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  the  highest  authority,  in  the  worthiest  form.  But  the 
Jews  rejected  his  teachings.  We  are  prone  to  rely  upon  our 
senses  for  evidence,  when  God  would  have  us  believe  him. 
"The  Lord  prefers  a  faith  which  believes  without  signs  and 
wonders."^  The  disciple  Thomas  rejected  the  testimony  of 
his  brethren  that  they  had  seen  the  Lord  after  his  resurrection, 
and  he  demanded  both  ocular  and  tangible  proof  as  a  condi- 
tion of  his  believing.  Jesus  accommodated  the  case,  as  suffer- 
ing a  morbid  condition  of  mind  through  the  dreadful  trial  of 
the  crucifixion;  but  Jesus  instructed  him  that  faith  is  better 
than  sight:  "Thomas,  because  thou  hast  seen  me,  thou  hast 
believed;  blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have 
believed."^  In  the  winter,  at  the  feast  of  the  dedication  at 
Jerusalem,  Jesus  was  walking  on  the  grounds  of  the  temple 
when  the  Jews  accosted  him  with : 

"How  long  dost  thou  hold  us  in  suspense?  If  thou  be  the  Christ, 
tell  us  plainly."  Jesus  answered :  "  I  have  told  you  and  ye  believed  not; 
the  works  which  I  do  in  my  Father's  name,  these  hear  witness  of  me."  ^^  "  If 
I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  sin ;  but  now  they 
have  no  excuse  for  their  sin."^^ 

If  miracles  in  the  estimation  and  design  of  the  Savior  were 
not  intended  to  stand  alone  as  matters  of  evidence,  but  consti- 
tuted a  part  of  a  system,  they  were  certainly  meant  to  be  a 
power  and  have  a  place  in  Christ's  kingdom.  They  had  a  direct 
relation  to  the  person  of  Christ  as  credentials  of  his  teaching 
and  work.  They  revealed  his  identity  and  power.  They  all 
looked  to  the  ultimate  salvation  and  glorification  of  believers. 
When  the  Baptist  had  been  long  shut  up  in  prison,  but  heard  of 
"the  works  of  Christ,"  not  knowing  whether  the  great  miracle- 
worker  was  the  one  whom  he  had  baptized,  and  of  whom  on 
sight  he  had  borne  witness,  he  sent  two  of  his  own  disciples 
directly  to  Jesus  with  the  inquir}^ ;  and  Jesus  identified  himself 
to  John's  understanding  by  means  of  "signs." 

MKOslln.  30  John  XX,  2!).  "/6.x,  24,  25.  s*  J6.  xv,  22,  24. 


Characteristics  and  Value  of  Christ's  Miracles.     179 

"Go  show  John  again  those  things  which  ye  do  hear  and  see:  the 

blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the 

deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached 
to  them." 33 

As  credentials,  miracles  were  employed  by  Christ  to  pre- 
pare the  public  mind  for  his  teachings  which  thereby  found 
acceptance.  It  was  thus  on  "the  third  day"  after  their  call, 
he  wrought  the  first  miracle  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  "  and  his  dis- 
ciples believed  on  him,"  in  consequence.^  With  the  apostles, 
however,  miracles  were  secondary  to  the  word^  and  conji/rma- 
tory  of  their  preaching.  Accordingly,  as  we  have  it  in  Mark's 
Gospel,  Jesus  himself  said:  "And  these  signs  shall  follow 
them  that  believe."  "And  they  went  forth  and  preached 
everywhere,  the  Lord  working  with  them,  and  confirming  the 
Word  hy  the  signs  following^^ 

8 144.    Inductions. 

1.  Miracles  externally  are  distinguished  from  incantation  and 
every  form  of  deception  by  their  mutual  antagonism  found 
in  every  instance  of  contact  in  history. 

2.  Miracles  internally  constitute  an  integral  part  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  being  inseparable  from,  and  having  to  do 
directly  with,  the  redemption  of  mankind. 

3.  Miracles  at  once  evidence  and  illustrate  the  Divine  claims 
and  character  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Messiah  touching  his 
mission  on  earth  as  the  Savior  of  men. 

4.  Miracles  are  Christo-centric,  because  he  is  the  Source  and 
Center  of  this  outreaching  power  unto  men,  and  after  him, 
his  apostles  wrought  miracles  in  his  name. 

5.  Miracles  serve  not  only  to  characterize  special  crises  in  re- 
ligious history,  but  distinguish  new  epochs  in  the  prog- 
ress of  God's  Church  on  the  earth. 


"Matt,  xl,  2-5;  Luke  vil,  19-22.  34  John  11, 1-11.  35  Mark  xvl,  17,  20. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MODERN  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  HISTORICITY 
OF  MIRACLES. 

I.  History  op  the  Negation  op  Miracles. 
Chubb — Spinoza — Hume — Strauss — Renan. 
11.  Miracles  and  the  Absolutism  op  Nature. 

1.  The  Idea  of  a  Miracle. 

2.  The  Absolutism  of  Nature. 

3.  Nature  and  our  Knowledge. 

4.  Absolutism  a  Fiction. 

5.  Nature's  Laws  Modifiable. 

6.  Nature's  Laws  Antagonistic. 

7.  Creation  and  Science. 

8.  Origin  of  Life  on  Earth. 

9.  A  Personal  God  and  Nature. 

III.  Miracles  and  Universal  Experience. 

1.  Terms  Universal  Experience  of  Mankind  Defined. 

2.  Miracles  Included  as  a  Part  of  Universal  Experience. 

IV.  Miracles  and  Investigation. 

1.  David  Strauss  and  Investigation. 

2.  Ernest  Renan  and  Investigation. 

181 


Chapter  VIII. 

MODEKN  OBJECTIONS  AGAINST  CHRIST'S 
MIRACLES. 

§145.    Sovirces:  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literatiire. 

1.  Alexander  von  Humboldt  (1769-1859),  of  Berlin,  a  scientist  of  pre- 

eminent abilities,  acquirements,  and  skill.  His  Kosmos  (in  4 
vols.,  1845-1859)  was  his  greatest  work,  scientific  in  character  but 
popular  in  style ;  a  work  which  would  immortalize  any  man.  It 
has  been  described  as  his  "  chief  work,  the  most  pei'fect  and 
the  most  characteristic."  "It  is  a  wonderful  book,  stupendous 
in  its  learning  and  admirable  in  its  ease."  (Peterson.)  "With 
him  ends  a  great  period  in  the  history  of  Science ;  and  that  was 
his  peculiarity ;  he  was  the  end  of  the  period,  not  the  beginning." 
(Agassiz.) 

2.  SiE  Charles  Lyell,  of  Scotland   (1797-1875),  a  graduate  of  Oxford, 

England,  in  1819,  studied  law,  but,  from  inclination  and  taste, 
devoted  himself  to  enthusiastic  pursuits,  especially  geology,  in 
which  he  became  pre-eminent.  He  published  his  Principles  of 
Geology  (3  vols.,  1830-1833),  which  soon  became  a  standard  author- 
ity. In  1832  he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Geology  at  King's  Col- 
lege, London ;  became  president  of  the  Geological  Society  in 
1836,  and  again  in  1850.  In  1863  he  published  his  Geological  Evi- 
dences of  the  Antiquity  of  Man,  in  which  he  supported  the  ^^Dar- 
winian Theory  "  of  the  Origin  of  Man. 

3.  Justus  von  Liebig  (1803-1873),  a  native  of  Darmstadt,  Germany,  was 

educated  at  the  University  of  Bonn  and  Erlangen,  and  became 
Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  University  of  Giessen  and  Munich. 
He  was  chosen  president  of  the  Academy  of  Science  at  Munich  in 
1860,  and  was  made  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris  in  1861.  Humboldt  became  his  friend,  and  he  was  rec- 
ognized in  the  world  of  science  as  the  greatest  chemist  of  his  time. 

4.  James  B.  Mozley  (1813-1878)  graduated  at  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  in 

1834;  became  Canon  of  Worcester  in  1869,  Eegius  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Oxford  in  1871,  and  was  author  of  several  works  of 
note,  among  which  was  Eight  Bampton  Lectures  on  Miracles  (1865). 

5.  W.  B.  Carpenter  (1813-1885),  an  eminent  English  physiologist.  Pro- 

fessor of  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  College,  Lon- 

183 


184         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament, 

don,  and  editor  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Medico-Chirurgical 
Revieiu.  "  He  had  few  living  equals  in  acquaintance  with  nat- 
ural science  for  original  inquiry  and  skill  as  a  scientific  writer." 
He  was  chosen  president  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science  in  1872. 

6.  J.  J.  VAN  OosTERZEE  (1817-1882),  born  at  Rotterdam,  Holland;  edu- 

cated at  the  Dutch  University  of  Utrecht ;  was  chosen  Professor 
of  Systematic  and  Practical  Theology  in  the  same  institution  in 
1862.  He  wrote  a  number  of  works  of  great  value,  among  which 
are  a  Life  of  Christ  (1865);  Christian  Dogmatics  (2  vols.,  transl., 
1870);  Theology  of  the  Netv  Testament  (1867);  and  an  Essay  before 
the  Evangelical  Alliance  at  New  York,  in  1873,  on  Gospel  History 
and  Modern  Criticism.  These  are  all  works  of  rare  worth,  pro- 
found thought,  and  admirable  scholarship  and  skillfulness. 

7.  Joseph  Ernest  Rbnan    (1823-1892),   of  France,   distinguished   as   a 

philologist  and  an  anti-Christian  writer.  After  winning  several 
minor  distinctions,  he  was  sent  by  the  Academie  des  Inscriptiones 
on  a  literary  tour  through  Italy,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber in  1856 ;  was  honored  with  a  scientific  mission  to  Syria  in 
1860-1862;  then  chosen  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  College  de 
France,  which  position  he  soon  lost  by  the  publication  of  his  Life 
of  Jesus.  He  was,  however,  reinstated  in  1870,  and  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Academie  Francaise  in  1870.  Renan  died  October 
2,  1892.  He  is  most  widely  known  in  the  literary  world  by  his 
works  entitled  Origines  du  Christianisme ,  Vie  de  Jesus  (1863)  ;  Les 
Apostles  (1866) ;  Saint  Paul  (1867) ;  L' Anti-Christ  (1873)  ;  and  ifarc 
Aurele  (1881).  His  best  work  was  Historic  generale  des  Langues 
Semitiques.  His  style  was  brilliant  and  beautiful,  but  the  contents 
are  too  imaginary  and  his  postulates  relating  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion too  gross  in  the  perversion  of  facts  to  find  acceptance 
among  critical  thinkers.  Criticism  has  relegated  his  anti-Chris- 
tian writings  to  the  realms  of  romance  as  being  utterly  unreliable 
and  unhistorical. 

§  146.   Modem  Objections  to  the  Historicity  of  Miracles. 

1.  The  right  to  deny  d  priori  the  possibility  of  a  miracle — if  at  least  one 

believes  in  a  personal  and  living  God — has  never  yet  been  proved. 
— Van  Oosterzee. 

2.  No  one  is  in  a  position  to  declare  that  there  is  no  power  adequate  to 

the  production  of  miracles,  neither  can  he  affirm  them  to  be  in- 
consistent with  Divine  Wisdom  and  Almighty  Power. — Watson. 

3.  I  will  frankly  confess  that,  up  to  this  hour,  I  have  never  been  able 

to  discover  a  stumbling-block  for  my  intellect  in  the  conception 
of  miracles. — Rothe. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.       185 

4.  It  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  favorite  tenet  of  mine,  that  Atheism  is 

as  absui'd,  logically  speaking,  as  Polytheism;  and  that  denying 
the  possibility  of  miracles  seems  to  me  as  unjustifiable  as  specu- 
lative Atheism. — Huxley. 

5.  The  common  attitude  toward  miracles  is  not  that  of  doubt,  of  hesi- 

tation, of  discontent  vpith  existing  evidence,  but  of  absolute,  de- 
cisive, and  even  unexamining  incredulity. — Leckt. 

6.  Miracle  comes  into  collision  only  vpith  the  pretended  absolutism  of 

natural  laws,  and  the  idolatry  with  which  Atheism  regards  it. — 

Bruce. 

ARGUMENT. 

The  negation  of  the  miracles  of  Scripture  belongs  to  modern  his- 
tory. Most  objections  relate  to  the  absolutism  of  natural  forces 
and  laws,  an  unproved  postulate.  Thence  it  is  inferred  that  a 
miracle  is  "a  violence  to  nature's  laws,"  "a  rent  in  nature's  sys- 
tem." The  most  recent  theories  in  opposition  to  the  miraculous 
are  two:  that  they  were  occurrences  which  had  their  origin  in 
ancient  myths  believed  by  an  ignorant  and  superstitious  people, 
or  that  they  were  at  first  the  merest  legends  based  on  natural 
facts,  but  exaggerated  by  early  accretions,  and  traditionally  trans- 
mitted to  us.  Therefore  miracles,  as  such,  are  imaginary  ;  they 
never  had  an  actual  existence ;  they  were  never  subjected  to  crit- 
ical investigation. 

These  objections  to  miracles  are  not  shown  to  have  a  foun- 
dation in  facts,  are  unsupported  by  proofs,  and,  indeed,  have  no 
existence  except  in  the  credulity  of  the  objector.  Every  shift  of  the 
ground  for  objection  is  itself  a  confession  that  the  older  position 
was  untenable  and  is  abandoned.  It  is  an  opposition  based  upon 
an  d  priori  aversion  respecting  the  miraculous,  which  is  unscien- 
tific in  character  and  precludes  investigation.  The  idea  of  a 
miracle  is  not  that  of  the  suspension  of  a  natural  force  or  law, 
much  less  its  violation ;  but,  leaving  the  natural  in  full  and  act- 
ive operation,  a  different  effect  is  produced  by  the  introduction 
of  the  direct  power  of  God,  which  is  the  projection  of  a  Higher 
Law.  Nor  can  a  miracle  be  called  "an  after-thought  with  God" 
to  correct  an  imperfect  creative  plan  of  the  universe,  but 
God's  forethought  to  rescue  man  from  his  abnormal  condition 
in  consequence  of  his  having  sinned.  It  is  clearly  the  right 
which  inheres  in  God  as  the  law  of  his  Almightiness  to  exert  his 
power  to  that  wisest  end  of  restoring  his  people  from  sinful 
wretchedness  to  that  plane  of  life  originally  contemplated  in 
man's  creation. 

1.  History  of  the  Negation  of  Miracles. 

2.  Miracles  and  the  Absolutism  of  Nature. 

3.  Miracles  and  Universal  Experience. 

4.  Miracles  have  not  been  Investigated. 


186         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


The  History  of  the  Negation  of  Miracles. 

There  was  no  denial  of  miracles  during  the  first  four  Chris- 
tian centuries.  Upon  the  contrary,  the  fact  of  such  occur- 
§147.  Nega-  re^ces  was  fully  admitted,  the  kind  of  miracles 
tions  Modem,  wrought  Were  designated,  and  the  apostles  who 
wrought  them  were  mentioned  by  name  by  the  early  enemies 
of  the  Christian  religion.  The  history  of  the  negation  of  mi- 
raculous occurrences  began  about  two  centuries  and  a  quarter 
ago.  The  Deists  of  Great  Britain  were  the  first  to  hold  that 
miracles  were  unnatural,  unhistorical,  impossible.  Thomas 
Chubb,  a  leader  in  the  opposition,  admitted  that  certain  re- 
markable occurrences  did  actually  happen,  but  that,  in  his 
opinion,  they  were  all  base  deceits  and  impostures.  Benedict 
Spinoza,  the  Jew,  boldly  contended  for  the  absolutism  of 
nature,  on  the  hypothesis  that,  nature  being  a  perfect  and  an 
immutable  organization,  miracles  must  be  excluded  as  an  in- 
novation.    He  said: 

"  The  laws  of  nature  are  the  only  realizations  of  the  Divine  Will ;  if 
anything  in  nature  could  happen  to  contradict  them,  God  would  contra- 
dict himself." 

David  Hume,  in  his  celebrated  Essay  on  Miracles^  taking 
the  hint  from  Spinoza,  followed  his  trend,  and  insisted  that 
miracles  were  a  violation  of  natural  laws,  and  therefore  in- 
credible. He  attempted  to  refute  the  proposition  of  their  oc- 
currence on  the  ground  that — 

"Miracles  are  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.  But  we  learn  from  ex- 
perience that  the  laws  of  nature  are  never  violated."  "For  miracles 
we  have  the  questionable  testimony  of  a  few  persons ;  .  .  .  against 
them  we  have  universal  experience ;  therefore  this  stronger  testimony 
nullifies  the  weaker  and  more  questionable." 

Then  afterward,  as  Natural  Science  enlarged  and  explored 
its  domain,  not  Science  itself  but  certain  scientists,  looking 
exclusively  upon  the  system  of  nature,  became  incorrigible 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.       187 

materialists,  and  disallowed  the  Supernatural  place  and  power 
in  the  universe.  More  than  sixty  years  since,  David  F. 
Strauss,  of  Germany,  affirmed,  in  his  Life  of  Jesus^  that  all 
the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament  were  resolvable  into  mere 
myths,  as  being  figments  of  the  ancient  imagination.  Now, 
"a  myth  is  a  representation  of  a  religious  idea  or  truth  in  the 
form  of  a  fictitious  narrative."  ^  He  did  not  deny  the  histor- 
ical existence  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  rather  admitted  that  he  did 
exist  and  that  he  was  a  man  of  rare  genius ;  yet  all  that  was 
claimed  as  supernatural  in  Christ's  birth  and  person,  and  all 
that  is  narrated  as  miraculous  in  his  history,  he  held  to  be 
imaginary  representations  of  religious  ideas,  and  not  facts, 
honestly  believed  by  the  Evangelists,  but  without  historicity. 
Proofs  he  did  not  oifer  to  substantiate  his  position.  This 
would  indeed  have  been  the  easiest  possible  disposition  to 
make  of  the  case,  if  it  is  allowable  to  settle  anything  in  rea- 
soning by  merest  assertion,  and  ignore  the  facts.  But  he  pre- 
ferred to  reflect  offensively  on  the  understanding  of  those  who 
differed  from  his  own  judgment,  and  assume  the  point  to  be 
proved.  He  said :  "  The  chief  offense  which  the  old  system  of 
religion  necessarily  gives  to  the  spirit  of  our  age  is  its  super- 
stitious belief  in  miracles."^  Strauss's  postulates  have  been  re- 
futed again  and  again,  both  by  his  own  countrymen  and  by 
critical  scholars  in  Great  Britain  and  America.  Finally, 
Joseph  Ernest  Kenan  of  Paris,  professor  in  the  College  of 
France,  was  pleased  to  believe  that  the  stories  of  the  miracles 
were  legends ;  accounts  containing  a  small  amount  of  history, 
with  an  enormous  amount  of  fiction.  However,  this  writer's 
utter  disregard  of  the  facts  of  sacred  history  was  so  phenom- 
enal when  they  were  against  his  hypothesis,  and  his  facility 
in  substituting  his  own  imagination  for  facts  was  so  great,  that 
his  critics  assign  his  writings  to  the  department  of  "romance." 
Such  is  the  history  of  the  modern  opposition  to  miracles. 

1  See  Schafif's  Person  of  Christ,  pp.  170, 171, 115-118.         2  Leben  Jesu,  p.  18, 1864. 


188         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Miracles  as  a  Violation  of  Nature's  Absolutism. 
It  is  important  to  the  discussion  of  this  chapter  that  the 
following  distinctions  should  be  kept  carefully  in  sight.     The 
line  is  clearly  drawn  between  the  natural  and  the 

§148.  Impor-  "^  i  .  •        i  mi 

tant  supernatural  as  involved  m  miracles,  ihe  natural 
is  the  universe  and  its  processes ;  the  supernatural 
is  God  and  his  procedures.  The  two  are  to  be  discriminated 
in  thought  as  in  fact,  as  the  Creator  is  distinguished  from  his 
creation,  as  cause  is  distinguished  from  its  effect.  All  we 
know  of  the  natural  is  knowledge  derived  through  the  five 
senses ;  all  we  know  of  the  supernatural  is  derived  through 
revelation,  whether  of  works  or  word.  By  the  laws  of  nature 
is  meant  simply  that  regular  method  which  we  observe,  in 
which  certain  phenomena  follow  certain  causes  which  are 
called  forces.  By  the  absolutism  of  nature  is  meant  the  prop- 
osition which  holds  that  the  universe  is  absolutely  perfect 
in  its  organization  and  laws,  and  is  absolutely  independent 
and  free  from  all  control  whatsoever.  This  rules  out  God  as 
the  Ruler  of  the  universe.  The  Atheist  John  Stuart  Mill 
wrote : 

"  The  expression  Law  of  Nature  is  generally  employed  by  scientific 
men  with  a  sort  of  tacit  reference  to  the  original  sense  of  the  word  law; 
namely,  the  expression  of  the  will  of  a  Superior— a  Superior  in  this  in- 
stance being  the  Ruler  of  the  universe."  "The  expression  Laws  of 
Nature  means  nothing  else  but  the  uniformities  which  exist  among 
natural  phenomena;  or,  in  other  words,  the  result  of  induction,  when 
reduced  to  their  simplest  expression."  ^ 

The  famous  scientist,   Dr.   "W.   B.   Carpenter,    of    Great 

Britain,  states : 

"  It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  science  is  nothing  more  than 
man's  intellectual  representation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  and  his 
conception  of  the  order  of  the  universe.  That  conception  is  formulated 
in  what  we  term  the  laws  of  nature,  which  in  their  primary  sense  are 
simply  the  expression  of  the  phenomenal  uniformities,  having  no  co- 
ercive power  whatever.  To  speak  of  such  phenomenal  laws  as  govern- 
ing phenomena  is  altogether  unscientific."  * 

^ Logic,  Bk.  ill,  c.  4.         ■•  Principles  of  Mental  Philosophy,  p.  692. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.       189 

A  miracle  is  a  supernatural  occurrence.  It  is  not  effected 
by  nature's  laws;  it  is  not  accordant  with  nature's  laws;  it  is 
not  contrary  to  nature's  laws ;  it  is  not  a  violation  §^49  The  idea 
of  nature's  laws.  All  these  are  fictitious  concep-  °^  Miracle, 
tions  of  the  miraculous.  To  be  evident  to  the  senses,  a  mir- 
acle must  touch  upon  some  object  in  nature,  or  it  could  not  be 
manifest.  It  is  brought  to  pass  by  the  direct  exertion  of 
God's  power  for  the  good  of  man.  Being  the  introduction  of 
a  new  force,  it  produces  a  new  effect,  differing  from  that  pro- 
duced by  nature's  forces.  The  forces  of  nature  were  never 
more  free  and  urgent  in  activity  than  when  a  miracle  was 
wrought;  but  in  such  case  the  natural  law  did  not  produce  its 
natural  effect.  "When  Joshua's  hosts  crossed  the  river  Jordan 
from  the  east  to  invade  Canaan,  by  a  miracle  the  waters  above 
were  "  cut  off,"  or  stayed,  and  the  waters  below  flowed  away, 
so  that  Israel  passed  over  dry-shod.  ]l^ow,  so  far  from  there 
being  a  suspension  of  the  natural  forces  or  any  interference 
with  their  exercise,  those  forces  were  never  more  powerfully 
exerted  than  then,  but  another  effect  was  produced  hy  the  intro- 
duction of  another  Cause.  That  is,  there  was  a  direct  causation 
from  God  in  the  interests  of  a  wise  and  beneficent  purpose 
toward  man.  The  transaction  took  place  outside  of  the  or- 
ganism of  nature  as  to  its  source  and  power;  but  there  was  no 
'•'•  molence''''  done  to  nature,  as  Avas  assumed  by  Hume,  and  no 
^^renV  perceptible,  as  asserted  by  Strauss. 

That  which  is  most  accentuated  by  the  contestants  of  mir- 
acles is,  that  nature's  forces  and  laws  are  absolute  and  immu- 
table; that,  as  a  system,  it  is  absolutely  perfect,  ^150.  Natiire's 
unalterable,  and  inviolate.  This  postulate  neces-  Absolutism, 
sitates  the  exclusion  of  the  living  and  personal  God.  It  as- 
sumes that,  in  God's  creating  nature,  he  limited  himself  in  his 
own  freedom,  and  ceased  to  be  infinite  by  such  limitation. 
The  universe  is  absolutely  independent  of  God,  and  warns  off 
the  Creator.  Miracles  are  impossible.  Of  course,  this  is  sheer 
assumption. 


190         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Unquestionably,  in  many  aspects  of  phenomena  which  fall 
under  our  observation,  there  is  discernible  a  constant  uni- 
formity in  what  we  call  the  active  operation  of  nature's  laws. 
But  we  do  not  know,  and  no  one  pretends  to  know,  universal 
nature;  and  there  is  in  what  we  know  no  warrant  for  believ- 
ing that  the  regularities  which  we  observe  furnish  ground  for 
the  exclusion  of  miracles.  It  can  not  be  claimed  that  we  have 
a  right  to  know  that  the  natural  activities  are  always  and 
everywhere  the  same  in  regularity.  Those  who  have  most 
emphasized  the  absolute  immutability  and  inviolability  of  the 
universe  and  its  processes,  have  failed  to  tell  just  what  the 
laws  of  nature  are,  and  why  miracles  would  be  debarred  be- 
cause deranging  or  violating  natural  laws.  Without  knowing 
precisely  what  the  laws  of  nature  are,  how  can  we  know  what 
will  violate  them?  In  the  absence  of  any  justifying  reasons 
for  such  belief,  the  claim  must  be  attributed  to  mere  prejudice 
in  advance  of  investigation,  which  is  not  scientific. 

Every  intelligent  mind  acknowledges  the  obvious  fact  that 

our  knowledge  of  nature  and  its  processes  is  as 
and  yet  extremely  limited  in  comparison  with  what 

is  unknown.  X.  Bichat,  of  France,  recognized  as 
one  of  the  most  eminent  physiologists  of  the  past  century, 
says: 

"  The  vital  properties  are  at  every  instant  undergoing  some  change 
in  degree  and  kind  ;  they  are  scarcely  ever  the  same."  "They  are  sub- 
ject to  a  number  of  vai-ieties  ;  they  baffle  all  calculation,  and  would  re- 
quire as  many  formulae  as  the  cases  which  occur.  In  their  phenomena, 
nothing  can  be  foreseen,  foretold,  or  calculated ;  we  judge  of  them  only 
by  their  analogies,  and  these  are  in  the  vast  proportion  of  instances  ex- 
tremely uncertain."* 

Sir  Charles  Lyell  also  observes : 

"To  say  that  such  leaps  as  have  received  the  name  Atavism  [i.  e., 
the  tendency  in  generation  to  return  to  original  species  or  type]  consti- 
tute no  interruption  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  is  more  than  we 

^  Anatomie  Generale,  Introd.  p.  xxi. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        191 

are  warranted  in  affirming.  In  the  case  of  the  occasional  birth  of  an  in- 
dividual of  superior  genius,  there  is  certainly  no  break  in  the  regular 
genealogical  succession  ;  .  .  .  still  a  mighty  mystery  remains  unex- 
plained ;  and  it  is  the  order  of  the  phenomena,  and  not  its  cause,  which 
we  are  able  to  refer  to  the  usual  course  of  nature."' 

It  is  further  affirmed  by  the  distinguished  Eev.  H.  C.  M. 
Watson,  of  New  Zealand — 

"That  the  operations  of  nature  have  never  varied  is  a  proposition 
that  can  not  be  maintained.  A  process  of  necessary  reasoning  compels 
us  to  believe  that  they  have  varied  in  the  past  history  of  the  world. 
The  science  of  Geology  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  this  position."^ 

From  all  the  foregoing  citations,  taken  from  scientists  and 
authorities  of  the  first  order,  the  following  facts  are  derived 
as  the  basis  of  further  discussion : 

1.  The  Laws  of  Nature  are  nothing  else  than  the  expression 
of  uniformities  of  phenomena. 

2.  Yital  properties  in  nature  are  every  instant  changing  in 
both  degree  and  kind. 

3.  Interruptions  in  the  course  of  nature  called  Atavism  are  by 
no  means  uncommon. 

4.  Geology  witnesses  to  the  fact  that  the  operations  of  nature 
are  certainly  variable. 

5.  To  speak  of  phenomenal  laws  as  coercive  or  governing 
phenomena  is  unscientific  language. 

These  facts  evidence  that  no  man  is  entitled  to  affirm  that 
natural  laws  are  absolutely  regular  and  immutable,  that  mir- 
acles should  be  excluded,  as  claimed  by  Hume  g  152.  Absoiut- 
and  his  admirers.  Upon  the  other  hand,  if,  as  ism  a  Fiction. 
Dr.  Carpenter  says,  "  Science  is  nothing  more  than  man's  intel- 
lectual representation  of  the  phenomena,  and  his  conception 
of  the  order  of  the  universe,"  and  "simply  the  expression  of 
the  phenomenal  uniformities,  having  no  coercive  power  what- 

•  Antiquity  of  Man,  c.  xxiv. 

'Paper  read  before  the  Victoria  Institute,  or  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Great  Britain,  Vol.  XX,  p.  224. 

13 


192         HisTOEiCAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ever,"  what  is  the  ground  on  which  miracles  are  excluded?  If 
Bichat's  statement  is  indisputable,  that  vital  properties  are 
"  every  instant  undergoing  change,  both  in  degree  and  kind," 
what  is  to  be  said  of  physical  nature  outside  of  the  vital? 
^  Geology  witnesses  that  invariability  in  the  operations  of  na- 

^^  ture  can  not  be  maintained.     What  is  to  be  said  of  those  me- 

teoric showers  whose  irregular  occurrence  is  always  taking 
the  world  by  surprise?     Such  displays  do  not  come  regularly 
or  constantly.     Why,  then,  should  they  occur  at  all  under  a 
I  system  of  laws  which  is  absolutely  immutable  ?     What  do  we 

know  of  the  hidden  causes  and  conditions  lying  back  of  the 
phenomena  by  which  are  produced  occasionaUy  destructive 
cyclones,  terrible  earthquakes,  and  volcanic  eruptions — occur- 
rences which  come  without  uniformity,  and  are  surprises  in 
time  and  procedure?  Do  they  not  demonstrate  changeable- 
ness  in  both  the  forces  and  phenomena  of  nature?  If  these 
things  do  not  happen  at  regular  intervals,  that  fact  itself 
denotes  deviation  instead  of  immutability  in  nature.  If 
variableness  and  deviation  are  found  in  the  causes  and  condi- 
tions, as  well  as  in  time  and  the  mode  of  procedure,  then  vari- 
ableness and  deviation  lie  at  the  very  fountain-head  of  nature's 
laws,  and  refute  the  claim  that  nature  is  and  always  has  been 
uniform  and  changeless.  In  short,  the  absolutism  of  nature's 
laws  is  a  purely  fictitious  claim.  No  one  is  warranted  in 
denying  the  possibility  of  miracles  on  the  ground  of  the  im- 
mutability and  inviolability  of  nature's  laws. 

M.  Compte  declares  that  "the  human  intellect  is  subject  to 
the  law  of  an  invariable  necessity  which  is  demonstrable  a 
priori  from  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  intellect."  On 
the  other  hand,  Huxley  indignantly  denies  the  postulate,  affirm- 
ing that,  "as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  intellect  of  man  has  not  heen 
subjected  to  the  law,"  as  claimed!^  Here  are  two  disbelievers 
in  Christianity  antagonizing;  each  other  as  to  the  existence  of 
a  law  of  nature  claimed  to  be  demonstrable. 


*  Huxley  on  Hume. 


Modern  Objectioks  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        193 

It  clearly  can  not  be  maintained  that  nature  is  absolute,  so 
that  any  interference  or  modification  is  impossible  or  would  be 
a  violence  which  would  shock  the  universe.    This  „_„  „ 

§  153.  Nature's 

is  perfectly  demonstrable,  and  is  done  every  day.  Laws 
The  fact  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  lower  forces 
of  nature  are  constantly  counteracted  and  modified  by  those 
which  are  higher ;  the  mechanical  by  the  chemical,  the  chem- 
ical by  the  vital  forces.^  In  such  cases  it  is  not  correct  to  say 
that  the  feebler  force  is  in  any  sense  suspended  or  annihilated ; 
rather  it  becomes  co-operative  in  securing  ends  not  attainable 
by  itself.  The  higher  laws  or  forces  are  constantly  modifying 
the  lower  ones  in  the  system  of  nature,  to  our  greatest  advan- 
tage, and  this  modification  and  counteraction  are  also  employed 
in  the  mechanical  arts.  This  principle  may  be  variously  illus- 
trated. 

A  seed  germinates  in  the  soil,  developing  a  vegetable  organ- 
ism above  ground ;  the  animal  consumes  the  vegetable  organ- 
ism and  man  consumes  both  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  or. 
ganisms ;  but  where  is  the  shock  administered  in  the  universe  ? 
Through  long  days  and  nights  the  tree  holds  out  the  fruit  on  its 
tireless  limb,  in  constant  exposure  to  the  sun's  light  and 
warmth,  to  secure  the  silent  chemistry  which  makes  for  its 
proper  development  and  ripeness.  Meanwhile  gravitation 
grapples  and  tugs  with  all  its  inherent  power  to  draw  the 
fruit  down  to  earth;  but  a  stronger  force  of  adhesion  holds 
the  fruit  fast  in  the  grasp  of  the  tree,  until  the  ultimate  end 
is  accomplished.  By  due  process,  the  adhesive  force  weakens 
its  grasp,  and  the  stronger  force  overcomes,  and  the  fruit  at 
length  descends  into  the  lap  of  earth.  In  this  battle  of  the 
forces  there  is  mutual  victory  and  defeat;  but  there  is  neither 
"violence"  nor  "shock"  to  the  laws  of  nature.  An  artisan's 
skill  places  overhead  the  ceiling  of  a  room,  and  ever  after- 
ward, without  an  instant  of  break,  the  force  of  gravitation  is 
tugging  at  every  square  inch  of  that  broad  ceiling ;  but  gravi- 

^Lay  Sermons,  pp.  156, 157.  w  See  Murphy  on  Habit  and  Intelligence,  I,  88. 


194         IIisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

tation  is  again  overcome  by  the  stronger  force,  permanently, 
without  the  slightest  evidence  of  shock  or  violence.  A  mag- 
net attracts  iron  filings,  and  holds  them  aloft  despite  the  draw- 
ings of  gravitation;  the  greater  force  overcomes  the  weaker 
force.  It  is  natural  for  water  to  run  downhill;  but,  by  means 
of  the  siphon,  man  compels  it  to  run  uphill.  These  are  not 
miracles;  but  they  refute  the  claim  that  the  laws  of  nature 
are  absolute,  and  admit  of  no  modification  or  change  without 
violence.  So  man  at  his  will  controls  the  effect  of  natural 
forces  wherever  he  employs  steam  to  traverse  the  ocean,  or 
uses  electricity  to  propel  the  trolley-car.  The  higher  force  of 
man's  will  puts  the  other  natural  forces  to  a  new  purpose. 
But  no  law  is  suspended;  nothing  is  done  contrary  to  nature; 
but  a  new  effect  is  produced.  If  a  moM  can  do  so  much,  how 
much  more  the  will  omd  jpower  of  the  infinite  God!  It  is  the 
admirable  remark  of  Dr.  Schaff:  "The  control  of  nature  by 
the  will  of  man  is  no  miracle,  but  it  involves  all  the  specula- 
tive difficulties  which  are  urged  against  it  by  materialists  and 
Atheists." 

But  there  is  still  another  aspect  of  the  case  which  chal- 
lenges consideration.     As  already  seen,  the  miracles  of  Christ 
were  restorative*  in  trend  and  effect.     When  the 

§154.  Nature's 

Laws  An-  yellow  fever  begins  its  ravages  in  a  given  commu- 
agoms  ic.  jji^y^  all  the  remedies  known  to  the  healing  art 
are  invoked  to  stay  its  destructive  work  and  exterminate  the 
ghastly  evil.  Here  is  an  antagonism  in  the  forces  of  nature, 
between  the  forces  of  life  and  the  forces  of  death.  Is  this 
very  antagonism  to  be  cognized  as  a  part  of  nature's  supreme 
perfection  and  immutability,  that  its  harmony  would  be  dis- 
turbed and  rent  by  the  performance  of  a  miracle  to  the  same 
end?  Eecovering  from  a  deadly  disease  means  the  recovery 
of  man  from  his  abnormal  to  his  natural  condition.  There  are 
laws  which  are  promotive  of  life  and  health;  and  there  are 
laws  which  are  promotive  of  disease  and  death ;  and  these  are 


*  See-chap,  vll,  ^139. 


MoDEEN  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles         195 

contrary  the  one  to  the  other.  If  there  are  maladies  to  be 
suffered,  there  are  also  remedies  for  our  restoration.  If,  now, 
it  be  claimed  that  all  these  instances  cited  merely  illustrate  a 
normal  state  of  facts  in  the  natural  law,  in  which  one  force 
operates  to  overcome  another  force  which  is  resistive,  and  that 
the  system  of  nature  includes  all  such  modifications  and  an- 
tagonisms in  its  legitimate  workings,  then  in  what  consist  this 
absolute  perfection  and  harmony,  in  distinction  from  derange- 
ment and  discord,  that  miracles  should  be  excluded? 

But  now  let  the  claim  be  admitted.  Then  three  facts  are 
to  be  carefully  noted:  (1)  It  is  a  surrender  of  the  contention 
that  any  modification  or  interference  with  the  ordinary  activ- 
ities of  natural  forces  is  a  violence  or  outrage  to  nature.  (2) 
It  legitimates  the  question.  If  man  interfere  with  and  modify 
the  action  or  results  of  natural  law,  as  he  certainly  does,  how 
and  why  is  it  impossible  for  the  Infinite  God  to  do  so  likewise  ? 
(8)  It  prepares  the  way  for  the  distinct  assertion  that  miracles 
can  in  no  proper  sense  be  affirmed  to  be  violative  of  natural 
forces.  Eather,  they  are  analogous  to  the  healing  art.  They 
are  beneficent  in  purpose.  They  contemplate  restoration  to 
the  creative  plan  of  life  for  man. 

In  order  that  this  objection  against  miracles  shall  have 
validity  at  all,  it  must  be  assumed  that  nature  is  now,  as  ever 
since  creation,  in  its  normal  condition  of  absolute  g  ^55  Laws  of 
perfection  and  immutability  which  miracles  would  contrariety. 
violate.  But  evidently  natural  phenomena  do  not  always  prove 
that  that  condition  exists.  For  there  are  natural  laws  of  con- 
trariety and  antagonism  which  must  be  taken  into  the  account. 
As  already  seen,  there  are  forces  which  are  constantly  at  war. 
"When  volcanoes  disgorge  their  fires,  whole  cities  are  over- 
whelmed with  destruction  and  desolation,  as  were  Pompeii 
and  Herculanemn  before  Mount  Vesuvius  in  A.  D.  79.  When 
earthquakes  rock  the  globe,  calamity  and  waste  follow  in  the 
track.  Famine  stalks  the  land,  peering  into  every  hut  and 
palace,  only  to  fill  the  land  with  distress.     Pestilence  breathes 


196  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

across  continents,  and  whole  populations  disappear  from  the 
earth.  There  are  laws  which  are  instinct  with  the  power  of 
life  and  happiness,  and  there  are  laws  which  are  instinct  with 
the  power  of  death  and  wretchedness.  How  do  all  these  mis- 
eries experienced — mental,  moral,  and  physical — these  laws  of 
contrariety  and  absolute  antagonism,  illustrate  and  prove  the 
absolute  perfections  and  harmonies  of  nature?  In  all  this 
silent  war  of  forces  which  fill  the  air  and  earth,  why  should  it 
be  thought  that  miracles,  which  come  to  our  relief,  bringing 
beneficence  to  cure  some  of  our  worst  evils,  should  be  ex- 
cluded? Is  it  a  rational  belief  that  the  world  should  be  kept 
in  an  abnormal  condition  of  suffering ;  that  men  should  have 
eyes  without  sight,  ears  without  hearing,  hunger  without  food, 
life  without  health,  mind  without  reason,  when  miracles  come 
to  relieve  and  restore  the  afflicted  to  the  common  condition  of 
mankind?  Is  it  rational  to  impute  violence  to  the  Lord  of 
life,  who,  with  that  sweetness  of  spirit  which  has  never  been 
paralleled  by  any  mortal  man,  when  moving  among  the  lowly 
and  wretched  of  our  race  to  relieve  them  of  their  unnatural  bur- 
dens of  life ;  so  that,  at  his  touch  the  sightless  eyes  began  to  see ; 
at  his  word  the  speechless  tongues  began  to  speak;  at  his  com- 
mand the  loathsome  leprosy  instantly  disappeared,  the  wasted 
forms  of  men  were  lifted  into  the  joys  of  health ;  that  this 
lowly  Nazarene,  with  a  tenderness  which  seems  infinite,  deliv- 
ered those  who  were  bereft  of  reason  from  those  unnamed  and 
unknown  tortures  of  mind  experienced  by  the  insane,  and 
restored  them  to  a  peaceful  spirit  and  to  the  fellowship  of 
friends?  Would  it  be  better  to  preserve  inviolate  this  specu- 
lative theory  than  that  four  thousand  men,  besides  women  and 
children,  who  were  out  in  the  wild  desert's  waste,  after  suffer- 
ing from  three  days'  hunger,  "having  nothing  to  eat,"  than 
that  Jesus  should,  with  such  dignity,  benignity,  and  benefi- 
cence, so  rend  nature  and  do  violence  to  its  laws,  by  feeding 
the  multitude  by  multiplying  the  loaves  and  fishes!  "Woe  to 
those  who  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil ;  that  put  darkness  for 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        197 

light,  and  light  for  darkness."     Is  not  the  postulate  itself  the 
very  extreme  of  superficiality  and  absurdity? 

It  is  the  discriminating  remark  of  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  that — 

"We  are  told  that  miracles  are  impossible.  This  is  an  d  priori 
assumption  and  pseudo-philosophical  prejudice,  in  the  face  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Age,  the  whole  Bible,  and  the  common  belief  of  mankind  in  all 
ages.     It  is  an  unproved  dogma  turned  against  the  facts."  " 

Truly  has  Dr.  Yan  Oosterzee  observed : 

"The  right  to  deny  d  priori  the  possibility  of  a  miracle — if  at  least 
one  believed  in  a  personal,  living  God — has  never  yet  been  proved."  ^^ 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  science  knows  nothing  of  creation,  as 
it  invariably  begins  with  organization.  What  asons  intervened 
between  the  two,  no  living  man  can  tell.  But  to  §  ise.  creation 
speak  of  the  Genesis  of  the  Avorld  as  the  product  ^"""^  science. 
of  chance,  is  simply  preposterous,  and  forestalls  all  scientific 
Investigation.     Mr.  Mozley  observes: 

"  Science  is  not  opposed  to  the  idea  of  creation,  because  all  that  is 
essential  to  the  integral  notion  of  creation  is  a  beginning ;  and  a  begin- 
ning is  not  and  can  not  be  disproved.  .  .  .  Taking  the  facts  of 
nature  as  they  stand,  and  abstracted  from  any  hypothesis  respecting 
them,  the  introduction  of  all  the  species  were  generally  exertions  of  a  power 
different  from  the  course  of  nature ." '^^ 

It  was  the  sagacious  remark  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  that 
"The  laws  of  nature  do  not  account  for  their  own  origin."^* 
It  was  the  characteristic  remark  of  Thomas  Carlyle,  in  his 
work  on  Frederick  the  Great,  that  "Atheism  truly  he  never 
could  abide.  To  him,  as  to  all  of  us,  it  was  flatly  inconceiv- 
able that  intelligent,  moral  emotion  could  have  been  put  into 
him  by  an  entity  which  had  none  of  its  own."  ^^  Thirty  years 
ago  much  was  said  among  scientists  respecting  the  origin  of 
life  without  the  office  of  the  living  Creator,  The  doctrine  of 
sjpontaneous  generation  was  stoutly  held  by  Huxley  on  his  dis- 
covery of  '■''Bathyhius,^''  which  he  defined  as  "a  vast  sheet  of 

^^Person  of  Christ,  p.  99.  ^^Dogmatics,  Vol.  II,  565. 

'3  Transactions  of  Victoria  Institute,  Vol.  XX,  p.  222. 
^*Logic.  ^^Biography,  B.  23,  c.  14. 


198         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

living  matter  enveloping  the  whole  earth  beneath  the  seas;''^® 
and  about  the  same  time  Hackel  discovered  the  existence  of 
^^Moneron^^  which  he  understood  to  be  "very  minute  non- 
nucleated  corpuscles  forming  the  simplest  living  organisms." 
These  two  substances  were  supposed  to  bridge  the  impassable 
chasm  between  inorganic  and  organic  matter;  between  the 
lifeless  and  the  living  nature ;  so  that,  starting  with  the  idea 
of  the  eternity  of  matter,  the  doctrine  of  creative  acts  by  a 
li\'ing  and  personal  Creator  could  be  absolutely  set  aside.  In 
1872,  Strauss  admitted  that,  unless  the  introduction  of  life 
could  be  accounted  for  on  natural  grounds,  a  miracle  must 
have  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  life.     He  wrote : 

"  Huxley  has  discovered  the  Bathybius,  a  shining  heap  of  jelly  on 
the  sea  bottom ;  Hackel,  what  he  calls  Moneres,  structureless  clots  of 
albuminous  carbon,  which,  although  inorganic  in  their  constitution,  yet 
are  all  capable  of  nutrition  and  accretion.  By  these  the  chasm  may  be 
said  to  be  bridged,  and  the  transition  effected  from  the  inorganic  to  the 
organic.  As  long  as  the  contrast  between  the  inorganic  and  organic,  lifeless 
and  living  nature,  was  understood  to  be  an  absolute  one;  as  long  as  the  con- 
ception of  a  special  vital  force  was  retained,  there  was  no  possibility  of  span- 
ning the  chasm  without  the  aid  of  a  miracle."  ^^ 

The  greatest  microscopist,  Professor  Lionel  Beale,  and  the 
greatest  physiologist.  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter,  both  of  London, 
from  the  very  first  rejected  Huxley's  great  discovery  of 
Bathybius  as  an  unscientific  conclusion.  In  1869,  Dr.  Wal- 
lich,  of  London,  in  the  Monthly  Microscopic  Journal^  made  an 
exposure  of  the  unscientific  character  of  Huxley's  claim  for 
his  Bathybius  from  scientific  data.  Meantime  the  ship  Chal- 
lenger made  deep-sea  soundings,  gathering  new  evidence 
against  Huxley's  doctrine.  In  1874,  Professor  Beale  in  his 
work  on  Protoplasm — a  work  mentioned  by  the  North  Avner- 
ican  Review  as  "  one  of  the  most  remarkable  books  of  the 
age" — says  in  reference  to  Bathybius  that — 

"Instead  of  being  a  widely-extending  sheet  of  living  pi-otoplasm 
which  grows  at  the  expense  of  inorganic  elements,  it  is  rather  to  be 
regarded  as  a  complex  mass  of  slime  with  many  foreign  bodies  and  the 
di'bris  of  living  organisms  which  have  passed  away." 

^^Microscopic  Journal,  1868,  cited  by  Joseph  Cook,  Biol.  p.  2. 

1'  The  Old  Faith  and  the  New,  $48.   See  Joseph  Cook's  Boston  Led s.,  Biol.  pp.  2, 8. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        199 

The  German  Naturalists'  Association  at  Hamburg,  in  1876, 
repudiated  Bathybius ;  and  soon,  according  to  Professor  Dana, 
of  Yale  University,  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science  cmd 
Arts^^  Huxley  himself  surrendered  his  discovery  as  being  an 
empty  pretense,  an  unscientific  conclusion!  Such  was  the  end 
of  the  "fact"  which  was  to  be  the  golden  bridge  which  was 
to  relegate  the  doctrine  of  a  supernatural  Creator  and  super- 
natural miracles  to  the  myths  of  oblivion !  Tyndall  exploded 
the  hypothesis  of  spontaneous  generation. 

It  is  now  easy  to  understand  why  Humboldt  in  a  letter  to 
a  friend  once  wrote : 

"  What  I  do  not  like  in  Strauss  is  the  scientific  frivolity  with  which 
he  finds  no  difficulty  in  accepting  the  generation  of  organic  matter  from 
inorganic,  or  even  the  formation  of  man  from  some  primeval  slime."  ^^ 

The  confession  of  Strauss  is  now  in  place: 

"As  long  as  the  contrast  between  the  organic  and  inorganic  .  .  . 
is  an  absolute  one,  as  long  as  the  conception  as  a  special  force  \i.  e.  a 
Creator]  was  retained,  there  is  no  possibility  of  spanning  the  chasm 
without  the  aid  of  a  miracle." 

Since,  as  Mill  observes,  "the  laws  of  nature  §157,  origin 
do  not  account  for  their  own  origin,"   what  is        of  Life, 
to  be  said  of  the  Origin  of  Life?     Strauss  said  in  1872: 

'^Miracle  must  he  confessed  to  have  occurred  once  at  least  at  the  intro- 
duction of  life,  unless  some  method  of  filling  up  the  chasm  between  the 
dead  and  the  living  forms  can  be  found."  ^^ 

liot  only  has  the  chasm  not  been  filled,  but  the  notion  is 
absolutely  abandoned,  and  the  voice  of  scientists  is  now 
universally  against  the  notion  as  frivolous  to  affirm  that  there 
is  possible  a  spontaneous  origin  of  life. 

HSckel  conceded  that  "most  naturalists  of  our  time  give  up  the 
attempt  to  account  for  the  origin  of  life  by  natural  causes."  ^^  DuBois 
Eaymond  says:  "  It  is  futile  to  attempt  by  chemistry  to  bridge  over  the 
chasm  between  the  living  and  the  not-living."  Huxley  said:  "If  the 
theory  of  evolution  is  true,  the  living  must  have  arisen  from  the  not- 
living."     "  The  chasm  between  the  living  and  the  not-living,  the  present 

"See  Joseph  Cook,  Biology,  pp.  2-4.       ^^Letters  to  Varnhagen,  4th  ed.  p.  117. 
»  Old  Faith,  etc.,  $ 48.  sij^tsf.  of  Creation,  Vol.  I,  827. 


200         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

state  of  knowledge  can  not  bridge."  ^^  Sir  William  Thomson  declares : 
"  This  seems  to  me  to  be  as  sure  a  teaching  of  science  as  the  law  of 
gravitation,  that  life  proceeds  from  life,  and  nothing  but  life."^  Kant 
said:  "Give  me  matter  and  I  will  explain  the  formation  of  the  world; 
give  me  matter  alone,  and  I  can  not  explain  the  formation  of  a  cater- 
pillar."^ Tyndall  said:  "If  we  look  at  matter  as  defined  for  genera- 
tions in  our  scientific  text-books,  the  notion  of  conscious  life  coming  out 
of  it  can  not  be  formed  by  the  mind."  "Life  came  only  from  antece- 
dent life.  .  .  .  Either  let  us  open  our  eyes  to  the  conception  of 
creative  acts,  or,  abandoning  them,  let  us  radically  change  our  notions 
of  matter."^  Dr.  Liebig  wrote:  "Some  philosophers  have  aflfirnied  that 
life  has  existed  from  eternity.  Natural  science  has  proved  that  at  a 
certain  period  the  earth  in  temperature  was  such  that  no  organic  life 
could  exist,  and  that  therefore  it  must  have  had  a  beginning."  ^6  Milller 
says:  "Only  a  miraculous  intei*ruption  of  the  natural  laws  can  form  a 
living  organism  out  of  lifeless  matter."  Dr.  Schenkel  says:  "The 
already  existing  harmony  of  nature  is  as  little  annihilated  by  the 
appearance  of  an  absolute  creative  act  of  God  in  the  w^orld,  as  is 
humanity  itself  by  the  entrance  of  anew  personality." ^^  Dr.  Carpenter 
stated:  "The  convertibility  of  physical  forces,  the  correlation  of  these 
with  the  vital,  and  the  intimacy  of  that  nexus  between  mental  and 
bodily  activity  which,  explain  it  as  we  may,  can  not  be  denied,  all  lead 
up  to  one  and  the  same  conclusion — the  source  of  all  power  in  mind."^ 
Or,  as  expressed  by  W.  R.  Grove:  "Causation  is  the  will,  creation  the 
act  of  God." 2^  Dr.  Christlieb  says:  "  How  did  the  first  living  organism 
originate  ?  Modern  science  has  unquestionably  demonstrated  that  life 
did  not  always  exist  on  earth  and  Cuvier  long  ago  confidently  main- 
tained this  to  be  the  case,  and  that  we  could  easily  indicate  the  point 
of  time  when  life  began."  "And  not  only  does  the  entrance  of  higher 
forms  of  life  interrupt  the  chain  of  natural  causes ;  for  within  the  dif- 
ferent grades  of  existence  themselves,  we  see  the  laws  broken  by 
exceptions  in  certain  points."  ^^ 

So,  then,  there  was  a  beginning  of  life  on  earth,  and  the 
essential  idea  of  a  creation  is  a  heginning;  and  all  life  is 
dependent  on  antecedent  life.  Scientifically  considered,  this 
was  a  beginning ;  theologically,  it  was  a  creation.  Whatever 
it  may  be  called,  it  was  a  supernatural  intervention  and  change 
wrought  on  all  precedent  natural  conditions.     What,  then,  is 


"^Encycl.  Brit.:  Biol. 

«3lnaugural  Address  before  British  Association,  Nature,  Vol.  IV,  269. 
2* Cited  by  Joseph  Cook,  Biology,  p.  40.       ^^Bclfast  Address. 
i*Au(fsburger  Allc/emcine  Zeitunq,  1856.        ^^ Christliche  Dogmatik,  258. 
'^Mental  Physiology,  c.  xx.  ^'^Essay  on  the  Correlation  of  Physical  Forces. 

^Mod.  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,  803-305,  note. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        2lii 

the  warrant  or  value  of  the  thought  which  supposes  that, 
when  God  created  the  universe,  he  narrowed  himself  down  to 
limitations  in  freedom,  power,  and  prerogative  to  that  which 
he  had  created,  so  that  he  can  not  work  miracles?  Nitzsch 
has  happily  remarked,  ^''Miracles  helong  to  a  higher  order  of 
things,  which  is  natiire  alsoP  Creation  was  a  radical  and 
revolutionary  innovation  as  respects  all  prior  conditions  of 
nature.  The  new  and  unseen  Force  which  was  introduced 
was  as  silent  and  certainly  as  powerful  as  that  which  germi- 
nates the  seed  in  the  soil,  or  marks  the  bursting  forth  of  bud 
and  bloom  in  springtime,  or  illustrates  itself  in  the  falling  of 
the  sunshine  which  we  can  see.  For  at  last  all  nature's 
activities  and  laws  are  but  effects,  referable  to  the  one  Divine 
First  Cause.  But  in  what  intelligible  sense  was  the  beginning 
an  innovation  to  be  held  as  "d*  renV  or  "«  violence^''  on  pre- 
existent  nature? 

Nitzsch  justly  observed  that  "the  denial  of  miracles  in- 
volves the  denial  of  the  free,  living,  personal  God;"  or,  as 
expressed  by  Dr.  Christlieb,  "He  that  believes  in  ^153.  concep- 
God  as  a  free,  living,  personal  Will,  has  settled  tionsofGod. 
for  himself  the  possibility  of  miracles."  Deism  is  the  con- 
ception which  separates  God  from  the  universe  which  he 
created,  and  holds  that  nature  upholds  itself  and  controls  its 
activities  by  virtue  of  its  own  laws,  without  the  intervention 
and  power  of  God.  Materialism,  on  the  contrary,  identifies 
God  with  matter  as  one,  in  that  complete  sense  that  it  denies 
all  separate  and  spiritual  existence,  negativing  God  as  a  Spirit. 
Pantheism  is  that  conception  of  God  which  holds  that  he  is 
identical  with  the  world,  so  that  outside  and  beyond  matter 
he  does  not  exist;  that  he  is  the  Soul  of  the  universe,  and  all 
nature  is  his  body.  So  far  from  God  being  a  living,  self-con- 
scious personality,  he  is  the  merest  It — a  somewhat  having 
power  without  intelligence.  Of  course,  such  conceptions  of 
the  Almighty  Godhead  are  incompatible  with  the  possibility 
of  miracles. 


202         HisTOKiCAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


Miracles  Contrary  to  Universal  Experience. 

Mr.  David  Hume,  of  England,  was  the  apostle  of  this  propo- 
sition. It  is  said  to  have  been  originally  perpetrated  as  a  joke 
to  worry  a  Jesuitical  priest,  who  had  just  reported  to  him  in 
conversation  a  miracle  wrought  by  the  Romanists.  After- 
wards, however,  thinking  that  he  had  thought  better  than  he 
meant,  he  amplified  his  argument  in  an  Essay  on  Miracles,  in 
which  he  says: 

"For  miracles  we  have  the  testimony  of  a  few  persons  ;  against  them 
we  have  universal  experience  ;  therefore,  this  stronger  testimony  nulli- 
fies the  weaker  and  more  questionable." 

Notwithstanding  the  sophistry  of  this  position  has  been 
often  exposed,  Strauss  thought  his  '•'•Essay  on  Miracles  was  so 
universally  convincing  that  he  [Hume]  may  be  said  to  have 
settled  the  question ! " 

Now,  precisely  what  is  meant  by  ^'•universal  experienced'' 
It  is  defined  as  "  the  uniform  and  undeviating  experience  of  all 
o,  =^  „.     ,      mankind  in  all  okjcs  of  the  worldP    The  definition 

8159.  Miracles   .  ,  . 

and  is  fair.     But  it  may  properly  be  asked.  When, 

and  how,  and  by  whom  has  the  consensus  of  "  the 
universal  experience  of  all  mankind  in  all  ages  of  the  world" 
been  taken?  And  who  is  the  responsible  custodian  of  the  re- 
port made?  It  is  easily  shown  that  the  "experience  of  men" 
on  different  parts  of  the  globe  is  often  variant,  and  sometimes 
diametrically  the  opposite.  The  experience  of  mankind  in 
the  torrid  zone  would  attest  the  fact  that  snows  are  never 
known  to  fall,  or  frosts  to  blight,  or  water  to  congeal  into  ice; 
but  experience  in  the  Arctic  Zone  would  attest  that  the  earth 
is  universally  bound  up  solid  in  the  embrace  of  perpetual 
snows  and  ice,  where  is  nothing  green,  and  glint  exists.  If  it 
be  claimed,  however,  that  in  the  universal  experience  of  the 
whole  heathen  world  in  all  the  ages  past,  miracles  have  never 
been  known,  the  fact  may  be  conceded  without  a  word  of  con- 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        203 

tention.  But  the  atfirmant  has  surrendered  his  own  premise 
of  "universal  experience."  The  experience  of  the  heathen 
world  is  very  far  from  being  "the  universal  experience  of  all 
mankind  in  all  ages  of  the  world."  Yery  obviously,  if  we  are 
to  find  miracles  at  all  among  men,  we  must  find  them  where 
they  occur,  and  not  where  they  are  utterly  unknown.  As  a 
matter  of  evidence,  one  might  as  well  demand  to  see  icebergs 
at  the  line  of  the  Equator  before  he  will  believe  that  they 
exist,  as  to  demand  Christian  miracles  in  the  outside  heathen 
world.  It  should  he  carefully  noted  that  the  postttlate  which 
excludes  the  history  of  miracles  wrought  in  the  Jewish  nation 
and  during  the  first  four  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  within 
the  Roman  Empire^  does  not,  nor  can  he,  admitted  to  represent 
^Hhe  universal  experierice  of  all  nnanhind  in  all  ages  of  the 
worlds''  Upon  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that 
universal  experience  does  not  sustain  the  postulate  that  mir- 
acles never  occurred.  We  know  heathen  experience  only  by 
its  history ;  by  the  same  canon  of  belief  we  learn  of  miracles 
in  the  Christian  world.  To  omit  the  experience  of  the  only 
valid  witnesses  in  the  case,  would  resemble  "the  play  of 
Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left  out ! "  To  prove  a  given  crime  by 
witnesses,  the  fundamental  question  would  be,  not  w^ho  did 
not  see  it,  hut  who  did.  The  testimony  of  the  whole  wit- 
nessing Church  of  God  on  earth,  with  its  centuries  of  ex- 
perience in  history,  solemnly  attests  that  miracles  were 
wrought  within  "  the  universal  experience  of  all  mankind  in 
all  ages  of  the  world."  It  is  much  to  the  advantage  of  the 
argument,  that  Tniracles  were  never  once  denied  in  those  cen- 
turies where  and  when  they  occurred,  and  hy  those  who  were 
most  entitled  to  know.  Upon  the  contrary,  as  we  have  seen, 
miraculous  occurrences  are  distinctly  admitted,  the  kind  of 
miracle  wrought  was  designated,  and  the  names  of  those  who 
wrought  them  were  given,  by  those  who  were  enemies  of  the 
religion  which  produced  them. 


204         Historical  Evidekce  of  the  New  Testament. 


Miracles  Have  Never  Been  Investigated. 

Nothing  has  been  more  put  forward  as  a  stock  expression 
by  a  certain  class  of  dishelieyers  than  that  miracles  were 
never  subjected  to  investigation.  Is  this  true,  indeed  ?  Then 
miracles  have  been  rejected  without  investigation!  "He  that 
judgeth  before  he  heareth  is  not  wise."  Both  Strauss  of  Ger- 
many and  Kenan  of  France  issued  this  broad  challenge. 

Dr.  David  Strauss  wrote : 

§160.  Strauss  "  If  the  friends  of  the  miraculous  would  explain  to 

on  us  the  working  laws  [of  miracles]  as  clearly  as  we  know 

Investigation,  ^j^g  laws  which  govern  the  action  of  steam,  we  should 
then  consider  their  arguments  as  something  more  than  mere  talk."^^ 

Confessedly,  the  spirit  of  this  gibe,  intended  for  those  who 
differ  with  Strauss,  does  not  happily  illustrate  a  philosophical 
mind  in  search  of  truth.  He  should  have  known  that  if  the 
higher  law  of  the  supernatural  could  he  explained,  that 
fact  would  take  the  case  out  of  the  category  of  the  super- 
natural at  once ;  it  would  not  be  a  miracle.  Truly  did  the 
skeptical  Schilling  say:  "Nothing  is  more  doleful  than  the 
occupation  of  all  rationalists  who  strive  to  make  that  rational 
which  declares  itself  above  all  reason."  We  do  not  explain 
"the  working  laws"  of  our  own  natures,  how  thought  co-ordi- 
nates with  the  sensibilities  and  with  the  human  will,  resulting 
in  the  external  action ;  nor  do  we  have  to  understand  all  this 
inter-relation  and  inter-action  in  order  to  believe  any  given 
fact.  We  do  not  believe  how  the  grass  grows ;  but  we  believe 
that  it  grows,  nevertheless.  Who  has  ever  explained  the  inter- 
nal "working  laws"  whereby  the  acorn  is  converted  into  the 
oak  ?  Nature  is  full  of  mysteries  which  were  never  understood, 
but  which  we  all  accept  and  believe.  Test  microscopically  and 
chemically,  as  you  will,  two  eggs  of  different  species,  which, 
however,  so  far  as  discernible,  are  exactly  alike  in  appearance, 
in  weight,  size,  color,  substance,  in  quality,  and  quantity.    The 

31  Cited  In  Modern  Doubt,  etc.,  323. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        205 

one  egg  invariably  hatches  the  bird,  the  other  the  serpent. 
Now,  in  return,  an  explanation  of  nature  is  in  demand.  Is 
the  fact  to  be  deemed  incredible  because  it  is  inexplicable? 
Can  we  explain,  not  the  external  conditions,  but  the  internal 
origin  of  life  in  the  egg  ?  No  man  has  ever  yet  explained  the 
"working  laws"  involved;  nevertheless  every  man  believes 
the  fact  when  it  occurs,  unless  he  is  an  idiot.  Until  one  can 
explain  the  phenomena  of  nature,  or  of  life,  or  of  history,  he 
debars  himself  from  all  right  on  this  ground  to  object  a  priori 
to  the  possibility  of  miracles.     Rightfully  does  Christlieb  say: 

"  We  now  demand  of  those  who  reject  the  miraculous  that  they 
shall  explain  to  us,  from  natural  causes,  all  the  phenomena  in  nature 
and  history.  If  they  can  not  do  it,  they  have  no  right  to  contest  the 
possibility  and  the  historical  nature  of  the  miraculous.  .  .  .  Un- 
belief has  yet  to  find  a  satisfactory  explanation  for  the  most  important 
facts  in  history.  The  more  thoroughly  it  investigates,  the  less  can  it 
conceal  this.  .  .  .  And  what  is,  then,  the  last  resort  for  deniers  of 
the  miraculous  ?  When  the  connecting  links  in  nature  no  longer  suflBce, 
they  are  feign  to  recur  to  chance.  .  .  .  But  to  take  refuge  in  chance 
is  the  death  of  all  scientific  investigation."  ^^ 

In  one  of  Joseph   Ernest  Kenan's  later  works,  entitled 

The  Apostles,  he  says : 

"  It  is  an  absolute  rule  of  criticism  to  deny  a  place  in  history  to  nar- 
ratives of  miraculous   circumstances.     .     .     .     Such  facts   have  never 

been  really  proved.    All  the  pretended  miracles  near  „,^,    „ 

.  „      T.,  .„     .  .        §161.Renanon 

enough  to  examine  are  referable  to  illusion  or  im-  investigation, 
posture.  If  a  single  [modern]  miracle  had  ever  been 
pi'oved,  we  could  not  reject  in  a  mass  all  those  of  ancient  history;  for 
admitting  that  very  many  of  these  last  [modern  miracles]  were  false,  we 
might  still  believe  that  some  of  them  were  true.  But  not  so.  Discus- 
sion and  examination  are  fatal  to  miracles.  Are  we  not,  then,  author- 
ized to  believe  that  those  miracles  which  date  centuries  back,  and  re- 
garding which  there  are  no  means  of  forming  a  contradictory  debate, 
are  also  without  reality  ?"^ 

a)  Two  things  very  remarkable  occur  in  this  paragraph. 
One  is  that  M.  Renan,  as  a  critic,  should  reject  that  which  is 
true  because  of  the  false ;  should  disallow  the  money  of  the 
genuine  bank  because  of  its  counterfeit;  should  disown  the 

M Christlieb,  Modern  Doubt,  329,  330.       » Introduction,  p.  37,  Amer.  ed.  1879. 


206         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ancient  miracles  of  history  because  of  modern  pretenses  con- 
fessedly false.  This  evidences  a  strange  lack  of  discrimination 
in  judgment.  Another  characteristic  is,  that  he  accentuates 
that  "discussion  and  examination  are  fatal  to  miracles,"  but 
respecting  "  those  miracles  which  date  centuries  back  .  .  . 
there  are  no  means  for  forming  a  contradictory  debate."  If 
ancient  miracles  can  not  be  opposed  by  reason  in  debate,  why 
reject  them  without  reason? 

Just  what  kind  of  evidence  M.  Renan  demands  when  he 
says,  "Such  facts  have  never  been  proved,"  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  know.  If  he  means  historical  proof  of  such  oc- 
currences has  not  been  adduced,  he  is  certainly  much  at  fault 
as  a  Professor  of  History.  There  are  concessions  and  clear 
affirmations,  and  no  contradictions  made  by  Jews  and  heathen 
directly  to  the  contrary,  as  we  have  seen.  These  attestations 
of  the  fact  of  miracles  come  from  those  who  were  even  more 
hostile  to  Christianity  than  was  M.  Eenan.  But  they  had 
this  advantage  of  this  writer ;  they  were  the  contemporaries 
of  the  miraculous  events,  and  knew  what  they  were  writing 
about  far  better  than  one  living  in  the  nineteenth  or  twentieth 
century.  We  have  the  testimony  of  the  Jewish  Talmud,  the 
Toledoth  Jeshu,  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  part  of  the  heathen,  the  testimony  of  Celsus,  of 
Hierocles,  and  of  Julian  the  Emperor,  confirmed  by  the  testi- 
mony of  a  document  written  by  an  Arab,  reconfirmed  by  the 
witness  of  Tertullian,  Quadratus,  Origen,  and  a  host  of  Chris- 
tian writers  of  that  period.  These  speak  of  facts  which  oc- 
curred where  and  when  they  were  living,  or  near  that  time ; 
and  M.  Renan  gives  us  his  mere  opinion^  without  justifying 
reasons,  to  overthrow  the  testimony  of  these  witnesses !  No 
amount  of  denial  on  the  part  of  a  disbeliever  who  knows 
nothing  of  the  facts  in  dispute  can  cancel  the  historical  state- 
ments of  those  who  were  contemporaries  of  the  miraculous 
occurrences.  It  is  sheer  dogmatism  thus  to  deny.  It  certainly 
requires  more  than  M.  R6nan's  dictum  to  establish  it  "as  an 


Modern  Objections  Against  Christ's  Miracles.        207 

absolute  rule  of  criticism  to  deny  a  place  in  history  to  narra- 
tives of  miraculous  circumstances."  He  is  severely  criticised 
by  scholarly  writers  for  his  facile  methods  of  substituting  the 
vagaries  of  his  own  imagination  for  facts  touching  the  trans- 
actions recorded  in  the  historical  New  Testament.* 
(3)  M.  Renan  further  remarks: 

"  Miracles  only  exist  when  people  believe  in  them.  ...  A 
miracle  at  Paris,  for  instance,  before  experienced  savants  would  put  an 
end  to  all  doubt !  t  A  miracle  never  takes  place  before  an  incredulous 
and  skeptical  public,  the  most  in  need  of  such  convincing  proof.  Cred- 
ulity on  the  part  of  the  witness  is  the  essential  condition  of  a  miracle. 
There  is  not  a  solitary  exception  to  the  rule  that  miracles  are  never 
produced  before  those  who  are  able  or  permitted  to  discuss  and  criti- 
cise them."" 

R6nan  has  welded  together  as  one  the  silly  pretense 
of  the  modern  and  the  historical  miracles  of  the  apostles. 
He  refuses  to  separate  them  as  of  altogether  different  char- 
acter. His  remark,  therefore,  is  a  gratuitous  sneer  unbecom- 
ing the  courteous  Frenchman,  and  a  cheap  contempt  for 
Christianity  to  come  from  a  gentle  philosopher.  It  indicates 
a  vice  of  mind  which  disqualifies  the  writer  for  taking  a  fair 
view  of  things  which  come  within  the  domain  of  sacred 
history.  It  is  his  misfortune  that  in  matters  relating  to  the 
Christian  religion  he  is  interested  less  in  the  facts  to  be  sought 
than  in  their  denial.     To  say  that  miracles  exist  only  when 

*Dr.  Tlschendorf  says  of  R6nan's  writings:  "TMs  theory  of  the  rise  of  the 
Gospels  has  culminated  In  a  piece  of  botchwork,  .  .  .  Issued  from  the  Paris 
press  In  1863.  The  author,  .  .  ,  not  troubling  himself  .  .  .  respecting  the 
share  which  the  apostles  may  have  had  in  delineating  the  Gospel  portraits,  but 
following  his  own  self-imposed  theories  about  miracles  and  revelation,  has  dis- 
played boundless  recklessness,  and  given  way  to  the  most  unbridled  phantasies 
respecting  the  Gospel  history,  caricaturing  both  it  and  its  Hero.  He  has  written 
a  book  which  has  much  more  the  character  of  a  shameless  calumny  of  Jesus  than 
of  an  honest  investigation  into  his  career."  (Origin  of  The  Four  Gospels,  pp.  27,  28, 
Amer.  Tract  Society.) 

+  Christlleb  says  to  this:  "  Perhaps  before  the  French  Academy?  We  would 
remind  those  who  feel  inclined  to  submit  to  its  decision  as  infallible  that  this 
body  in  former  times  rejected  (1)  the  use  of  quinine,  (2)  of  vaccination,  (3) 
lightning  conductors,  (4)  the  existence  of  meteorites,  (5)  the  steam  engine." 
(Mod.  Doubt,  p.  824,  n.) 

34  TTw  Apostles,  p.  87. 
14 


208         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

people  believe  in  them,  is  even  better  than  to  disbelieve  in 
them  when  they  actually  occur. 

The  statement  of  this  Professor  of  History  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  France  is  historically  inexact  according  to  the  only 
authentic  documents  we  have  on  that  subject.  The  history  of 
miracles  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament  is  an  open  and 
standing  contradiction  of  his  whole  position.  Test  the  fact 
from  the  very  first  instance  unto  the  last.  When  Moses  and 
Aaron  stood  before  Pharaoh,^  that  ruler  called  in  his  "  ma- 
gicians Avith  their  enchantments"  to  confront  and  contest  the 
validity  of  the  miraculous  signs  evidencing  a  message  from 
God.  The  contestants  broke  down  completely  in  the  conten- 
tion, and  acknowledged  that  the  wonders  wrought  by  Moses 
were  wrought  "by  the  finger  of  God!"  The  narration  must 
stand  as  authentic  until  the  claim  is  refuted.  Does  it  prove 
that  "credulity  on  the  part  of  the  witness  was  the  essential 
condition  of  a  miracle^"  "When  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel^ 
met  the  eight  hundred  and  fifty  priests  and  patrons  of  the 
god  Baal,  to  test  and  contest  whether  Baal  or  Jehovah  was 
the  true  God,  in  the  presence  of  the  miraculous  sign  in  sacri- 
fice, when  fire  fell  from  heaven  at  the  prayer  of  the  prophet, 
the  unwilling  people  who  saw  it  fell  upon  their  faces  and 
cried  aloud,  "The  Lord  he  is  God;  the  Lord  he  is  God," 
What,  then,  becomes  of  Kenan's  famous  assumption  that 
"Credulity  on  the  part  of  the  witness  is  the  essential  condi- 
tion of  a  miracle ;"  and  "  miracle  never  takes  place  before  an 
incredulous  and  skeptical  public,  the  most  in  need  of  convinc- 
ing proof?" 

Turn  to  the  history  of  miracles  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  first  miracle  wrought  by  the  apostles*  was  that  wrought 
upon  the  person  of  the  lame-born  at  the  Gate  Beautiful,  at  the 
temple  grounds  at  Jerusalem.  The  man  was  instantly  cured 
by  the  word  of  Peter,  in  the  presence  of  adversaries.  But 
what  was  of  more  importance  was  the  fact  that,  when  Peter 

*That  is,  after  those  of  Pentecost,  Acts  11,  43. 
8s  Exodus  vlll,  19,  etc.  ««1  Kings  xvlli. 


Modern  Objections  Against  Chkist's  Miracles.       209 

and  John  had  been  arrested  and  arraigned  before  the  Sanhe- 
drin,  which  sought  to  suppress  the  apostles  and  their  work, 
they  were  constrained  to  confess:  "What  shall  we  do  with 
these  men?  for  that  a  notable  miracle  hath  been  done  by 
them  is  manifest  to  all  that  dwell  at  Jerusalem,  and  we  can 
not  deny  it^^  What,  then,  is  to  be  thought  of  the  reckless 
statement  that  "  There  is  not  a  solitary  exception  to  the  rule 
that  miracles  are  never  produced  before  those  who  are  able 
and  permitted  to  discuss  and  criticise  them !"  The  same  con- 
ditions were  present  in  the  course  of  Christ's  own  ministry. 
When  Jesus  cured  "the  sick  of  the  palsy,"  the  opposing 
scribes  did  not  deny  the  miracle,  but  said,  "This  man  blas- 
phemeth;"  but  "  the  multitudes  saw  it,  .  .  .  and  glorified 
God  who  had  given  such  power  to  men.'"^  When  he  pro- 
posed to  raise  the  dead  daughter  of  Jairus,  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  those  that  stood  by  "laughed  him  to  scorn,"  but 
when  it  became  an  accomplished  fact  they  were  silenced 
and  amazed  at  what  had  been  wrought.^  Even  the  Pharisees 
did  not  attempt  to  deny  his  miracles,  but  admitting  the  fact, 
ascribed  the  power  to  the  devil  !^ 

In  the  light  of  history  there  is  no  justification  to  be  offered 
for  Kenan's  frivolous  and  unhistorical  remark  that  "  a  miracle 
never  takes  place  before  an  incredulous  and  skeptical  public." 
Whatever  is  done  in  historical  investigation,  we  can  not  and 
must  not  attempt  to  change  the  facts  of  history.  We  can  not 
play  fast-and-loose  with  the  Christian  facts  which  are  to  be 
investigated.  As  to  the  sacred  narratives,  we  must  either  ac- 
cept the  accounts  as  they  stand,  or  refute  them  with  judgment 
in  open,  fair,  and  scholarly  criticism.  On  this  point  Dr.  Christ- 
lieb  says: 

"Renan  proceeds  to  contest  the  actuality  of  all  Scriptural  miracles, 
maintaining  that  no  miracle  has  been  established  as  such,  and  that  '  all 
supposed  miraculous  facts  which  we  have  been  in  a  position  to  examine, 
have  proved  to  be  delusions  and  deceptions.'    This  result,  of  course,  is 

«7Actslv,16.     88  Matt,  ix,  1-8;  Mark  11, 3-12.     a*  Mark  v,  40-42;  Luke  vlil,  41, 42,63-66. 
«Matt.  xli,  24;  Mark  ill,  22,23;  Luke  xi,  15. 


210         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

obtained  in  the  most  facile  mannei-,  by  aimply  changing  the  facts  which 
are  too  stubborn  to  evaporate  into  delusions,  into  myths  and  legends." 
"  The  man  who  calmly  aflRrms  that  no  miracle  has  appeared  before  those 
who  are  capable  of  criticising  it,  and  who  thus  declares  that  the  entire 
Jewish  and  Roman  world,  with  all  their  learned  and  wise  men,  among 
whom  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  so  many  [miraculous]  signs,  to  have 
been  utterly  incapable  of  forming  a  true  judgment  in  regard  to  them, — 
such  a  man  simply  gives  vent  to  the  presumption  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, which,  on  so  many  questions,  arrogates  to  itself  the  monopoly  of 
'  competent  criticism.'  "  ^ 

y)  It  may  now  be  assumed  that  the  distinction  between 
the  Natural  and  the  Supernatural  is  drawn  with  sufficient 
clearness,  and  that  the  laws  of  nature  for  their  existence  and 
maintenance  refer  us  to  the  Divine  Mind  as  the  one  and  su- 
preme Author.  The  following  inferences  are  therefore  legiti- 
mated : 

1.  The  Absolutism  of  Nature  is  a  claim  which  is  not,  and  never 
was  justified  by  proofs. 

2.  It  is  unscientific  to  hold  that  natural  laws  are  coercive,  or 
exclusive  of  miracles. 

3.  The  lower  forces  of  nature  are  never  suspended  or  anni- 
hilated by  the  higher  forces. 

4.  Miracles  do  not  suspend  or  supersede  the  natural  forces, 
but  simply  supplement  them. 

5.  If  man  has  power  to  modify  the  effects  of  natural  laws,  much 
more  has  the  Infinite  God. 

6.  The  work  of  Creation  and  the  Origin  of  life  on  earth  were 
supernatural  occurrences. 

7.  Universal  experience  in  all  ages  includes,  but  never  excludes, 
the  fact  of  miracles. 

8.  The  history  of  miracles  develops  the  truth  that  they  were 
always  open  to  investigation. 

«  Modern  Doubt,  etc.,  325. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PASSION,  DEATH/AND  BURIAL  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

I.  Incidents  op  His  Passion  : 

Testimony  of  Celsus,  Porphyry,  Toledoth  Jeshu,  and  the  Jewixh 
Talmud. 

II.  Incidents  of  His  Death  : 

Celsus,   Talmud,   Toledoth  Jeshu,  Josephus,  Lucian,  Hierocles, 
Tacitus,  Mara,  and  Dr.  Heinrich  Graetz. 

III.  Incidents  op  His  Burial  : 

Celsus,  Tacitus,  Rabbi  Frey,  R.  Abrabanel. 

IV.  Confirmation  of  Adversaries'  Testimony  by  Christian  Writers  : 

a)   Testimony  of  a  Christian  Apostle:  Paul. 
/3)   Testimony  of  Apostolic  Fathers:  Barnabas  and  Ignatius, 
y)  Testimony  of  Christian  Apologists:  Aristides,  Tertullian  and 
Jerome. 

V.  Inductions  from  the  Facts  and  Evidence  Adduced. 

211 


Chapter  IX. 
PASSION,  DEATH,  AND  BURIAL  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

§  162.    Sources:  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literature. 

(Adversaries.) 

1.  LuciAN  (A.  D.  120-200)  was  born  in  Samosata,  Syria,  and  flourished 

in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  (117-138).  Under  the  guise  of 
a  narrative  he  assailed  the  Christians  and  the  Christian  religion 
with  wit  and  ridicule  in  a  letter  written  to  one  Chronis,  in  which 
he  indulged  in  both  fiction  and  a  parody  representative  of  the 
death  of  one  Proteus  or  Peregrinus  as  being  a  Christian.  He  has 
been  critically  charactei'ized  as  "a  brilliant  but  frivolous  rheto- 
rician," "  an  Epicurean,  worldling,  and  infidel,  .  .  .  who  could 
see  in  Christianity  only  one  of  the  many  vagaries  and  follies  of 
mankind  ;  in  miracles,  only  jugglery  ;  in  the  belief  of  immortality, 
an  empty  dream ;  and  in  their  contempt  of  death,  and  brotherly 
love  of  Christians,  to  which  he  was  constrained  to  testify,  [only]  a 
silly  enthusiasm."     (Schaff.) 

2.  Henry  St.    John,  Lord  Bolingbroke   (1678-1751),  was  an   English 

statesman  and  author,  who  made  himself  quite  notorious  by  his 
hostility  to  Christianity  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
He  was  content  to  resolve  "  all  morality  into  self-love  as  the  first 
principle  and  final  center"  of  human  interest.  That  is,  he  put 
himself  in  the  place  of  God !  "  He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Ox- 
ford, and  was  extremely  dissipated  in  youth."  "  He  was  brilliant 
and  versatile,  but  not  profound."  "His  collection  of  works  have 
but  little  merit  except  style."     (Johnson's  Cyclop.) 

3.  Edward  Gibbon  (1737-1794),  who  attained  great  fame  as  an  historian. 

In  youth  he  studied  at  Westminster  and  Oxford ;  became  a  Ro- 
man Catholic ;  renounced  his  Catholicism  and  religion  in  1754, 
and  became  and  continued  a  confirmed  skeptic.  He  made  great 
acquisitions  in  both  classic  and  French  literature.  One  day,  while 
musing  in  Rome,  and  the  barefooted  friars  were  engaged  in  their 
vesper  devotions,  the  thought  first  occurred  to  him  to  write  his 
history  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  He  pi'o- 
ceeded  at  once  to  begin  the  work,  which  he  executed  during  1776- 
1788,  when  it  was  published.    The  best  editions  are  those  edited 

213 


214         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

either  by  William  Smith,  or  that  by  Milman.  Able  as  the  work 
certainly  is  in  so  many  respects,  in  critical  opinion  he  is  regarded 
as  exceedingly  unfair  toward  the  early  Christians,  magnifying 
their  frailties  into  faults,  and  being  seemingly  incapable  of  ap- 
preciating their  virtues  or  their  pi-oper  claims  of  conscience.  He 
was  utterly  pitiless  of  the  martyrs  for  the  truth,  and  had  no  sense 
of  their  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

(Friends.) 

4.  The  Apostolic  Fathers  were  so  named  because  they  were  the  im- 

mediate pupils  of  the  apostles,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  first 
Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church.  They  were,  therefore,  both  con- 
temporaries and  successors  of  the  apostles,  and  the  connecting 
link  between  the  Apostolical  and  the  Primitive  Church.  They  did 
not  claim  theopneustia  (inspiration)  in  their  work  as  did  the  apostles, 
nor  was  it  ascribed  to  them  by  the  Church.  Their  simple  function 
was  to  reproduce  and  hand  down  the  apostles'  teachings  as  they 
had  been  taught  by  them.  Sometimes  the  writings  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Fathers  were  read  in  the  Churchly  assemblies,  but  their  writ- 
ings were  not  considered  as  a  part  of  the  Canonical  Scriptures,  but 
as  friendly  and  Christian  counsel  to  enforce  the  apostles'  teach- 
ings. The  evidential  value  of  their  writings  in  Christian  history 
is  great,  for  the  reasons  that  they  were  for  years  the  personal 
associates  of  the  apostles,  and,  after  them,  were  the  first  re- 
cipients of  apostolic  teaching  and  the  media  through  whom 
those  teachings  were  transmitted  to  us ;  that  they  wei'e  at  once 
the  custodians  and  witnesses  of  the  apostolic  Scriptures  and  doc- 
trines, which  they  had  received  in  both  an  oral  and  a  written 
form.  They  treat  the  writings  of  the  apostles  with  profoundest 
reverence  as  being  the  exclusive  authority  for  the  Christian 
Church.  They  based  their  own  teachings  upon  the  apostolic 
doctrines. 

5.  Barnabas  (70-79)  was  not  the  companion  of  Paul  (Acts  xiii,  1,  2),  but 

one  of  the  earliest  writers  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers.  He  is  only 
known  in  his  Epistle,  which  is  a  curious  document,  but  of  very 
evidential  character.  "There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  ho 
received  his  appointment  to  the  apostolate  directly  from  the  Lord." 
(Westcott,  Canon  of  N.  T.  42.)  "Our  opinion  is  that  these  arguments 
are  fatal  to  the  authorship  of  [the  Apostle]  Barnabas  or  any  other 
apostle.  It  is  quite  possible  that  some  Alexandrian  Christian  by 
the  name  of  Barnabas  may  have  written  [this  Epistle],  for  the 
work  is  evidently  of  Alexandrian  origin  ;  its  cast  of  thought  and 
mode  of  exegesis  being  such  as  could  hardly  have  arisen  else- 
where." (Cruttwell's  Literary  History  of  Early  Christianity,  I, 
48,  49;  1893.)  The  Epistle  was  written  in  Greek  and  was  found 
attached  to  the  celebrated  Sinaitic  Manuscript  of  the  New  Testa- 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.         215 

ment  discovered  by  the  celebrated  Dr.  Tischendorf  in  the  St. 
Catherine  Convent  in  1859,  "  beginning  with  the  fourth  page  where 
Revelation  ends."  (Salmon.)  It  contains  twenty-one  brief  chap- 
ters. It  witnesses  to  the  existence  of  a  written  Gospel  in  A.  D.  70-79. 
The  date  of  this  Epistle  is  not  absolutely  certain ;  but  critical 
opinions  assign  the  document  to  the  sub-apostolic  age,  in  the  sev- 
enth decade  ;  but  some  so  late  as  A.  D.  138. 

a)  Those  jplacing  the  date  of  Barnabas' s  Epistle  in  the  second 
century  are: 

Westcott :  "  Not  before  the  beginning  of  the  second  century."   (Canon,  42. ) 

Fisher:  "Very  early  in  the  second  century."  (Beginnings  of  Chris- 
tianity, 278.) 

Kayser,  Baur,  Miiller,  and  Lipsius :  A.  D.  107-120;  Hefele,  137.  (Schaff, 
Ch.Hist.  II,  679,  n.  2.) 

Tischendorf:  "About  117."     (Origin  of  the  Four  Gospels,  155,  163.) 

Valkmar :  "  Under  Hadrian  ;"     i.  e.,  A.  D.  119-138. 

Crooks:  "About  125-150."     (Letter.) 

/3)  Those  ascribing  the  Epistle  to  the  first  century  are: 

Hilgenfeld,  Reuss,  Ewald,  Weizsdcher,  Weiseler,  and  Funk:    "At  the  close 

of  the  first  century,  or  before  79." 
Milligan:    "Soon  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem"   [70].     (Schaff, 

Ch.  Hist.  II,  678.) 
Cruttwell :  "  70-132  "  A.  D.     (Lit.  Hist,  of  Early  Christianity,  48,  49.) 
Hilgenfeld:  "Under  [the  emperor]  Nerva,  96-98."     (Cruttwell,  I,  49.) 
Smith  and  Wace :  "  Only  a  few  years  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;" 

i.  e.,  A.  D.  70.     (Diet.  Christ.  Biog.) 
Bunsen:   "About  fifteen  years  before  the  Gospel  of  John."     (Hippolytus 

and  his  Age,  I,  54.) 
Ewald,  Weizsdcher,  Cunningham :  "Not  many  years  later  than  Vespasian," 

70-79.     (West.  Can.  42  n.  1.) 
Holzmann :  "The  Epistle  to  Hebrews  and  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  writ- 
ten about  the  same  time."     (Cited  by  Watkins,  Bampt.  Lects.,  1890.) 
Bishop  Lightfoot :  "  We  should  probably  place  the  date     .     .     .    between 

70-79."     (Apos.  Faths.  241,  ed.  1891.) 
Professor  Salmon:  "We  must  ascribe  it  to  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  A.  D. 

70-79."     (Introd.  513,  518.) 
Harman:  "  It  must  have  come  down  from  the  first  century."     (Introd.  of 

Scripts.  515,  and  n.) 

The  date  here  given  for  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  is  the  seventh 
decade  of  the  first  century,  which  would  be  about  forty  years  after 
the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  about  fifteen  yeai-s  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Gospels.    The  special  value  of  this  document  is  the 


216         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

citation  it  makes  of  Matt,  xx,  16 ;  xxii,  14,  in  the  exact  words  of  the 
Evangelist,  under  the  formula  "It  is  ivritten,"  which  is  the  earliest 
testimony  of  the  written  Gospel  known. 

6.  Marcianus  Aristides  (wrote  123-139)  was  a  philosopher  of  Athens, 

who  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius  (Eccl.  Hist.  IV,  c.  3)  as  the  contem- 
porary of  Quadratus.  He  describes  Aristides  as  "a  faithful  man 
of  our  religion,  who  left  an  Apology  of  our  faith,  as  Quadratus  did, 
addressed  to  Hadrian."  Jerome  corroborates  Eusebius,  and  relates 
that  after  Aristides  became  a  Christian,  he  still  continued  to  wear 
the  philosopher's  garb,  and  that  he  presented  to  Hadrian  "  a  book 
containing  an  account  of  our  sect,  that  is  an  Apology  [or  Defense] 
for  the  Christians,  which  is  still  extant ;  a  monument  with  the 
learned  of  his  ingenuity."     (De  Illustrihus  Viris,  I,  20.) 

This  Defense  of  Aristides  was  lost  for  centuries,  but  was  re- 
cently recovei'ed  in  its  complete  form.  An  Armenian  transla- 
tion, discovered  in  1878,  was  the  fii'st  document  brought  to  light. 
R^nan,  with  his  chai*acteristic  repugnance  to  Christianity,  de- 
nounced the  document  as  spurious.  In  1889,  Rendal  Harris,  of 
Philadelphia,  while  traveling  in  Syria,  discovered  at  St.  Catherine 
at  Sinai  a  Syrian  manuscript  containing  a  ti'anslation  of  the  long- 
lost  Apology  of  Aristides.  Its  accordancy  with  the  Armenian  trans- 
lation is  such  as  completely  substantiates  the  identity  and  authen- 
ticity of  this  Apology.  But  there  is  this  curious  discrepancy:  the 
Syrian  manuscript  makes  it  clear  that  the  document  was  originally 
addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius  (139-161),  instead  of  Hadrian  (117-138) 
according  to  the  Armenian  document  and  the  statement  of  Eu- 
sebius, and  also  Jerome.  The  Syriac  gives  the  writer's  full  name 
as  Marcianus  Aristides.  "Now,  this  name  is  otherwise  known  as 
that  of  a  Christian  of  great  authority  in  Smyrna,  living  about  A.  D. 
138-140."  (Cruttwell,  Literary  Hist.  I,  292.)  A  point  of  principal 
interest  contained  in  this  Apology  is  the  early  formulation  of  the 
"Apostles'  Creed,"  though  not  in  its  complete  form. 

7.  Lactantius  (250-830)  was  a  rhetorician  and  orator  of  great  distinction. 

The  Emperor  Diocletian  invited  him  to  settle  in  Nicomedia  as 
Professor  of  Eloquence.  This  was  about  A.  D.  301.  About  312, 
Constantine  brought  him  to  court  in  Gaul,  and  appointed  him  the 
teacher  of  his  own  son  Crispus.  Lactantius  commanded  a  culti- 
vated style,  and  possessed  withal  remarkable  power  of  expression. 
Jerome  characterizes  him  as  "  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time." 
He  witnessed  the  cruel  persecutions  of  the  Christians  for  their 
faith,  but  without  sharing  their  sufferings,  and  was  well  pi'epared 
to  write  in  defense  of  his  reviled  religion.  Lactantius  was  called 
"  the  Christian  Cicero."  His  principal  work  was  his  Divine  Insti- 
tutes, which  was  at  once  a  refutation  of  paganism,  and  a  Christian 
Apology — a  work  which  he  dedicated  to  his  friend  and  patron  Con- 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.  217 

stantine  the  Great  as  the  first  Christian  emperor.  In  his  work 
entitled  De  Morie,  or  Mortihus  Persecutorum,  if  he  is  the  author, 
he  denounced  Nero's  cruelties  to  Diocletian,  Galarius,  and  Maxi- 
minius,  invoking  God's  judgments  upon  the  persecutors. 

8.  Jerome  (Sopronius  Eusebius  Hieronymus)  was  born  at  Stridon,  on  the 
confines  of  Dalmatia,  between  331  and  342.  He  is  recognized  as  the 
connecting  link  between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Churches. 
The  child  of  Christian  parents,  he  was  carefully  educated  under 
Donatus,  the  famous  heathen  grammarian,  and  Victorinus,  a  dis- 
tinguished rhetorician.  He  traveled  extensively  abroad.  But  he 
dovoted  himself  most  devoutly  to  the  studies  and  labors  of  an 
ascetic  monk.  He  attached  to  his  cause  many  converts  in  a  re- 
markable manner,  especially  Roman  ladies  of  the  patrician  fam- 
ilies, to  whom  he  expounded  the  Scriptures,  and  induced  many  to 
become  nuns.  In  386,  Jerome,  with  Paula  and  her  daughter  Eus- 
tochium,  settled  in  Bethlehem  in  Judaea.  Paula,  being  a  patrician 
of  wealth  and  distinction,  built  three  convents  for  nuns,  and  one 
for  the  monks,  over  which  Jerome  presided.  Here  Jerome  trans- 
lated the  Bible  into  the  Latin,  now  known  as  The  Vulgate  edition. 
Jerome  died  at  a  great  age  of  fever,  about  the  year  419  or  420. 

PASSION,  DEATH,  AND  BURIAL  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

The  death  of  Christ  is  so  distinctly  foretold  in  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah  that  I  am  forced  to  believe  that  Jesus,  by  a  series  of  pre- 
concerted measures,  brought  on  his  own  crucifixion  in  order  that 
his  followers  might  appeal  for  supernatural  proof  to  the  ancient 
prophecy. — Bolingbroke. 

If  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were  those  of  a  sage,  the  life  and  death 
of  Jesus  were  those  of  a  God. — Rousseau. 

It  was  something  far  deadlier  than  death. — Farrar, 

For  Christ  suffered  for  sin  once,  the  Righteous  for  the  unrighteous,  that 
he  might  bring  us  to  God. — Peter. 

And  when  [Pilate]  knew  it  from  the  centurion,  he  gave  the  dead  body 
to  Joseph. — Mark. 

Now,  in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified  there  was  a  garden,  and  in  the 
garden  a  new  sepulcher  wherein  was  man  never  yet  laid.  There 
laid  they  Jesus,  .  .  .  for  the  sepulcher  was  nigh  at  hand. — 
John. 

Uap^dojKa  yap  Vfuv  iv  wpwroi^  6  Kal  irapiXa^ov,  Srt  "Kpicrrb^  airidavev  virkp  tGiv 
a.p.apTi.Q)v  ■q/xCiv  Kara  ra?-  ypa<pd(;-  Kai  8tl  irdcpr]. — "  For  I  delivered  untO 
you,  first  of  all,  that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died 
for  our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that  he  was  buried." — 
Paul. 


218         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


ARGUMENT. 

The  argument  now  proposed  is  to  prove,  not  merely  that  the  facts  known 
as  the  passion,  the  death,  and  burial  of  Jesus  Christ  actually 
occurred,  together  with  certain  incidental  cii'cumstances  accom- 
panying, but  especially  that  the  record  of  these  particulars  in  the 
historical  New  Testament  is  a  truthful  and  authentic  account  of 
those  facts.  They  were  all  recognized  and  acknowledged  by  those 
who  were  pre-eminently  hostile  to  the  faith.  One  especial  object 
is  to  substantiate  by  adversaries  that  the  death  of  Jesus  was  real, 
and  that  despite  the  malice  of  men — at  the  instigation  of  the  Jews 
and  by  the  execution  by  the  Romans — Jesus  died  in  the  interests  of 
mankind.  It  was  tlie  gracious  design  of  God  to  save  men  through 
his  death,  without  reference  to  the  mode  or  manner  of  it.  Hence 
the  doctrine  of  an  Atonement  for  sin,  and  the  Redemption  offered  to 
mankind  through  the  suffering  Savior,  were  cardinal  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion  from  its  origin,  and  furnish  no  possible  room  for  any 
supposable  accretions  of  myths  or  illustration  of  legends.  More- 
over, these  doctrines  were  propagated  by  the  apostles,  and  so  en- 
tered into  the  very  structure  and  purpose  developed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament,  substantiating,  on  the  Christian  side, 
the  antiquity,  authenticity,  and  Divinity  of  those  Scriptures. 

1.  Incidents  of  Christ's  Passion. 

2.  Incidents  of  Christ's  Death. 

3.  Incidents  of  Christ's  Burial. 

The  celebrated  descriptive  portraiture  by  Plato  of  his  ideal 
§163.  Plato's  ^^ Just  and  Righteous  Man''''  has  a  striking  appli- 
justMan.     cability  to  Jesus  Christ  in  his  humiliation  and 
final  sufferings.     He  says : 

"A  man  of  true  simplicity  and  nobleness,  resolved,  as  -iEsculapius 
says,  not  to  seem,  but  to  be  good.  We  must  certainly  take  away  the 
seeming;  for  if  he  be  thought  to  be  a  just  man  he  will  have  honors  and 
gifts  on  the  strength  of  his  reputation,  so  that  it  will  be  uncertain 
whether  it  is  for  justice's  sake,  or  for  the  gifts  and  honors,  that  he  is 
what  he  is.  Yes,  we  must  strip  him  bare  of  everything  but  justice,  and 
make  his  whole  case  the  reverse  of  the  former  [i.  e.,  the  unjust  man  al- 
ready described].  Without  being  guilty  of  one  unjust  act,  let  him  have 
the  worst  reputation  for  injustice,  so  that  his  virtue  may  be  thoroughly 
tested  and  be  shown  to  be  proof  against  infamy  and  all  its  consequences, 
and  let  him  go  on  to  the  day  of  his  death  steadfast  in  his  justice,  but 
with  a  lifelong  reputation  for  injustice.  After  describing  the  men  [the 
just  and  the  unjust]  as  we  have  done,  there  will  be  no  further  difficulty 
in  proceeding,  I  imagine,  to  sketch  the  kind  of  life  which  awaits  them 
respectively.  They  will  say  that  in  such  a  situation  the  just  man  will  be 
scourged,  racked,  fettered,  will  have  his  eyes  burned  out,  and  at  last, 
after  suffering  every  kind  of  torture,  he  will  be  crucified."  ^ 

1  Plato'8  Republic,  Book  11,  cited  by  Davles  and  Vaughan ;  also  Malr's  Chris- 
tian Evidence,  p.  .371. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.         219 

Rousseau,  one  of  the  most  prominent  skeptics  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  says  of  this  sketch: 

"  When  Plato  paints  this  imaginary  Righteous  Man  covered  with  all 
the  opprobrium  of  crime,  and  worthy  of  all  the  rewards  of  vii'tue,  he  paints 
feature  for  feature  Jesus  Christ.  The  resemblance  is  so  striking  that  all 
the  Fathers  felt  it,  and  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it." 

Some  facts  of  especial  character  now  challenge  attention 
respecting  the  close  of  our  Lord's  earthly  life.  They  require 
careful  consideration  as  being  cardinal  points  in  »  jq^  Pacts 
the  system  of  Christianity.  Fortunately  the  tes-  ^^^  Hand, 
timonies  of  the  early  adversaries  are  available,  pointed,  and 
valuable  in  determining  the  time  and  place  of  the  occurrence 
and  incidental  circumstances  relating  to  the  passion,  death,  and 
burial  of  Jesus.  Celsus  is  remarkably  full  and  frequent  in  his 
references  to  details  as  we  find  them  recorded  in  the  Gospels, 
although,  with  a  strange  perversity  of  mind  even  in  a  heathen 
philosopher,  he  seeks  to  interpret  facts  to  the  disadvantage  of 
Jesus.  Worse  than  all,  his  frequent  sneer  is  hardly  becoming 
one  who  professes  to  be  a  philosopher  wishing  to  investigate 
Christianity.  He  often  evidences  a  bitter  spirit  toward  Jesus 
and  the  Christians,  designating  Christ  as  an  "  impostor,"  ^  while 
Lucian  calls  him  a  "Sophist,"^  a  term  which  he  often  uses  in  a 
good  sense;  and  Porphyry  mentions  "Jesus  Christ  as  a  man 
illustrious  for  his  piety,  and  who  was  more  powerful  than 
^sculapius  and  all  the  other  [Greek]  gods."* 

Incidents  of  His  Passion. 

a)  Referring  to  the  Savior's  retirement  to  Gethsemane  for 
prayer,  Celsus  says : 

"  Why  does  he  mourn  and  lament  and  pray  to  escape  ^  ^®^*  ^^^^][ 
the  fear  of  death,  expressing  himself  in  terms  like  these  :  ciples. 

'  O  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  ? '  "  ^ 
"  How  should  we  deem  him  to  be  a  God    .    .    .   who  was  found  attempt- 
ing to  conceal  himself,  and  endeavoring  to  escape  in  a  most  disgraceful 
manner,  and  who  was  betrayed  by  those  whom  he  called  his  disciples  ?  "  ® 

2  Cels.  1,  68,  close ;  11,  55.  «  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  II,  95. 

*  Colonia,^7,  cited  In  Lard,  vli,  445. 

6  Cels.  11  24,  comp.  Matt,  xxvl,  39.  '/b.  11,  9. 


220  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

"  No  good  general  or  leader  of  great  multitudes  was  ever  betrayed  ;"  but 
*'  Jesus,  having  been  betrayed  by  his  subordinates,"  did  not  govern  well, 
but  "  deceiving  his  disciples,  produced  in  the  minds  of  the  victims  of  his 
deceit,"  not  even  the  good  will  which  "  would  be  manifested  towards  a 
brigand  chief."  ^  Celsus  professes  to  believe  that  any  one  "who  was  a 
partaker  of  a  man's  table  would  not  conspire  against  him,  much  less 
would  he  plot  against  a  God,  after  banqueting  with  him  ;"  *  and  he  fur- 
ther asks:  "How  is  it  [possible]  that  if  Jesus  pointed  out  beforehand 
both  the  traitor  [Judas]  and  the  perjurer  [Peter],  they  did  not  fear  him 
as  a  God,  and  cease  the  one  from  his  intended  treason,  and  the  other 
from  his  perjury  ?  "^  The  Toledoth  Jeshu  also  says  that  "  Jesus  was  be- 
trayed by  Judas." 

P)  Celsus  refers  very  distinctly  to  several  incidental  circum- 
stances which  occurred  in  connection  with  the  crucifixion.    He 

§  166.  Christ's    ^^^^^  '• 

Sufferings.  '<  -jq  those  who  mocked  Jesus,  and  put  on  him  the  pur- 

ple robe  and  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  placed  the  reed  in  his  hand."  ^^ 
When  the  Christians  "  declare  the  Logos  to  be  the  Son  of  God,"  they 
"do  not  present  to  view  a  pure  and  holy  Logos,  but  a  most  degraded 
man,  who  was  punished  by  scourging  and  crucifixion.""  The  Tole- 
doth also  mentions  that  "  he  was  crowned  with  thorns."  The  Jewish 
Talmud  asserts  that,  "After  they  had  put  on  his  head  a  crown  of  thorns, 
and  the  Jews  and  also  the  soldiers  had  mocked  him,  and  afterward  he 
was  condemned  to  die,"  ^  etc. 

y)  As  regards  Celsus,  Origen  in  his  reply  says  : 

"  In  the  next  place,  throwing  a  slur  upon  the  exhortations  spoken  and 
written  to  those  who  have  led  wicked  lives  and  who  invite  them  to  re- 
pentance and  reformation  of  heart,"  Celsus  "asserts  that  we  say  that  '  It 
was  to  sinners  that  God  has  been  sent.'  "  ^^  "  He  who  was  a  God  could 
neither  flee  nor  be  led  away  a  prisoner,  and  least  of  all  could  he  be  de- 
serted and  be  delivered  up  by  those  who  had  been  his  associates,  and  had 
shared  all  things  in  common,  and  had  had  him  for  their  Teacher  who  was 
deemed  to  be  the  Savior,  and  the  Son  of  the  greatest  God."  "  "  O  sincere 
believers!  you  find  fault  with  us  [heathen]  because  we  do  not  recognize 
this  individual  as  God,  nor  agree  with  you  that  he  endured  these  [suf- 
ferings] for  the  benefit  of  mankind."  ^*  "Again,  if  God,  like  Jupiter  in 
the  comedy,  should,  on  awakening  from  a  prolonged  slumber,  desire  to 
rescue  the  human  race  from  evil,  why  did  he  send  this  Spirit,  of  which 
you  speak,  into  one  corner  [of  the  earth]  ?  He  ouglit  to  have  breathed 
it  alike  into  many  bodies,  and  have  them  sent  out  into  all  the  world. 
.  .  .  But  do  you  not  think  that  you  have  made  the  Son  of  God  more 
ridiculous  in  sending  him  to  the  Jews?"  ^^ 

'  Cei.s.  11, 12.  8/6.11,21.  «/i).li,18.  10/6.  11.  fH.  "/ft.  11, 81. 

1*  Semacholi,  11,  9.     "  Cels.  HI,  C2.     ><  lb.  11,  9.  «  n,,  n, ;«.  lo  y^.  yl,  78. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Bukial  of  Jesus  Christ,         221 

The  Toledoth  Jeshu  also  affirms  that  Jesus  taught  that  "  his 
blood  should  atone  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  and  that  he  appro- 
priated to  himself  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah."  (For  de- 
tails of  Crucifixion,  see  Excursus  G,  vii.) 

Celsus  again  obviously  misrepresents  and  holds  up  to  ridi- 
cule certain  Christians  as  "  inspired  persons  "  who  claimed  to 
have  Christ  formed  within  them  the  hope  of  glory,  when  he 
says  it  was  "  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  attention  and  ex- 
citing surprise"  before  the  public,  but  really  with  the  latent 
sneer  in  reference  to  Christ's  return  to  earth  to  judge  the  world. 
He  says : 

"These  are  accustomed  to  say,  ...  I  am  God;  I  am  the  Son  of 
God,  or  I  am  the  Divine  Spirit.  I  am  come  because  the  world  is  perish- 
ing; and  you,  0  men,  are  perishing  for  your  iniquities!  But  I  wish  to 
save  you ;  and  you  shall  see  me  returning  again  with  heavenly  power. 
Blessed  is  he  who  now  does  me  homage.  On  all  the  rest  I  will  send  down 
eternal  fire,  both  on  cities  and  on  countries.  .  .  .  But  they  give  occa- 
sion to  every  fool  or  impostor  to  apply  them  to  suit  his  own  purpose."  " 

§  167.    Recapitulation. 

The  earliest  adversaries  of  Christianity  here  witness  to  the 
existence  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus ;  to  the  fact  that  he  did  re- 
tire to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane ;  to  his  prayer  of  agony ;  to 
his  betrayal  by  Judas ;  to  his  having  been  deserted  by  friends ; 
that  he  was  led  away  by  his  captors  as  a  prisoner ;  that  he  was 
denied  by  Peter ;  that  he  was  scourged  by  Pilate ;  that  he  was 
mocked  by  Jews  and  soldiers ;  that  he  was  robed  in  a  purple 
garment ;  that  he  was  crowned  with  thorns ;  that  a  reed 
was  placed  in  his  hand ;  and  that  he  was  mocked  and  then 
condemned  to  die.  These  circumstances,  related  to  Christ's 
passion,  are  here  attested  substantially  as  recorded  in  the 
]S^ew  Testament.  Moreover,  an  enemy  of  Christ  witnesses 
that  he  was  "  a  man  illustrious  for  his  piety,"  and  more  pow- 
erful in  the  impression  which  he  made  upon  the  world 
and  for  the  influence  which  he  exerts  upon  mankind  than 
all  the   heathen   gods  together ;    that   he   was   the   Teacher 

"  Cels.  vli,  9. 


222         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

of  the  people ;  that,  notwithstanding  the  infamies  intended  to 
be  cast  upon  his  name  both  by  the  mode  and  associations  of 
his  death,  he  was  "  deemed  to  be  the  Savior,  and  Son  of  the 
greatest  God ;"  that  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  were  be- 
lieved to  be  in  the  interests  of  mankind ;  that  he  was  regarded 
as  the  Son  of  God  sent  to  the  Jews,  and  who,  in  the  cruelties 
endured,  made  an  atonement  for  the  race.  Here  are  about 
twenty  pa/rticular  facts  and  incidents  attested  just  as  they  are 
found  in  these  Christian  Scriptures.  They  are  taken  from,  the 
writings  of  Celsius^  the  Toledoth  Jeshu^  the  Jewish  Talmud^  and 
from  the  witness  of  Porphyry — the  earliest  and  worst  enemies 
Christianity  ever  had  to  encounter. 

Incidents  of  His  Death. 

It  should  be  particularly  observed  that,  when  the  Roman 
soldier  offered  Jesus  the  "vinegar  and  gall"  on  the  cross  to 
6 168  Christ's  ^leaden  his  mortal  pains,  the  potion  was  instantly 
Last  Moments,  rejected  ;^^  but  afterward,  when  the  "  vinegar  " 
alone  was  proffered  him  to  allay  the  intense  thirst  induced  by 
his  passion,  it  was  promptly  received.^^  The  sufferings  im- 
posed in  crucifixion  were  endured  without  mitigation.  The 
Messianic  prediction  was  thus  fulfilled :  "  They  gave  me  gall 
for  my  meat,  and  in  my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to 
drink."  ^  To  these  two  distinct  potions  the  rabbinical  works 
respectively  refer,  confirming  the  sacred  narrative. 

The  Talmud  affirms  that  "  after  he  [Jesus]  was  condemned 
to  die,  they  gave  him  the  cup  of  wormwood,  that  he  should 
not  feel  the  pangs  of  death.  This  mercy  to  drink  wormwood 
is  written  in  Abel  Rdbbati  or  Semachoti.^  The  Toledoth  Jeshu 
says,  "  They  gave  him  vinegar  to  drink."  Celsus,  probably 
from  ignorance  of  this  Jewish  custom,  mistakes  when  he  con- 
founds these  two  potions  as  one,  and  misrepresents  the  fact 
that  Jesus  accepted  the  vinegar,  but  rejected  the  other.    More 

"Matt.  xxvll,84;  Mark  xv,  23. 

»»Matt.  xxvll,  48;  Mark  xv,  36;  Luke  xxlll,  36;  John  xlx,  29,  30. 

K)  Psalm  Lxlx,  21.  "  Semachoti,  c.  11,  9. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.         223 

probably,  he  was  not  willing  to  make  the  just  discrimination, 
Origen,  in  citing  Celsus,  indicates  how  he  colored  the  facts 
saying  that  he  "  makes  the  vinegar  and  gall  a  subject  of  re- 
proach," adding: 

"  He  rushed  with  open  mouth  to  drink  of  them,  and  could  not  en- 
dure his  thirst  as  any  ordinary  man  frequently  endures  it.^^  "  For  what 
better  was  it  for  God  to  eat  the  flesh  of  sheep  or  to  drink  vinegar  and 
gall  than  to  feed  on  filth  ?"  "^  "  The  Christians,  making  certain  addi- 
tional statements  to  those  of  the  Jews,  assert  that  the  Son  of  God  has 
been  already  sent  on  account  of  the  sins  of  the  Jews,  and  that  the  Jews, 
having  chastised  Jesus  and  given  him  gall  to  drink,  have  brought  upon 
themselves  the  Divine  wrath."  ^'^ 

Paulus  of  Heidelberg,  and  other  skeptics  of  that  school, 
have  been  pleased  to  believe  the  unproved  conjecture  that 
Jesus  did  not  really  die  on  the  cross,  but  swooned 

•^  '  8169.  His 

OAjoay.  If  there  was  no  death,  there  was,  of  Death  Actually 
course,  no  resurrection.  Special  attention,  there- 
fore, is  directed  to  this  point  in  the  account  as  given  in  the 
sacred  narrative,  and  is  so  decisively  confirmed  by  adversaries, 
who  also  note  certain  extraordinary  circumstances  which  im- 
mediately followed  that  event.  The  testimony  adduced  takes 
cognizance  of  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  crucifixion ; 
that  it  was  effected  at  the  instigation  of  the  Jews ;  that  the 
mode  of  his  death  was  inflicted  by  the  Romans ;  that  he  was 
executed  by  Pontius  Pilate,  who  was  procurator  of  Judsea ; 
that  he  was  put  to  death  at  Jerusalem  in  Palestine ;  that  the 
time  of  its  occurrence  was  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Csesar ; 
that  the  occurrence  happened  on  the  occasion  of  the  Jewish 
Passover,  and  the  exact  hour  was  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, when  the  evening  sacrifice  was  slain.  No  historical 
event  of  the  remote  past  can  be  authenticated  by  better  evi- 
dence than  that  given  by  enemies,  who  identify  the  parties 
involved,  the  time,  the  place,  the  occasion  of  a  given  occur- 
rence, and  the  rulers  of  the  hour.  All  these  facts  concur  in  the 
death  of  Christ. 

22  Cels.  li,  37.  2»76.  vil,  13.  2*76.  Iv,  22;  comp.  John  xlx,  28-80. 

15 


224         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a)  His  Crucifixion.     Josephus  says : 

"  When  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  principal  men  among  us,  had 
condemned  him  to  the  cross,  those  that  loved  him  at  the  first  did  not 
forsake  him."  ^^  Lucian  testifies  that  Jesus  was  "a  crucified  Sophist;" 
and  adds  of  the  Christians  of  that  day:  "They  still  worship  that  great 
man  who  was  crucified  in  Palestine.  .  .  .  Moreover,  their  first  Law- 
giver taught  them  that  they  were  all  brethren  when  once  they  had 
turned  and  renounced  the  gods  of  the  Greeks,  and  worshiped  their 
Master  who  was  crucified,  and  engage  to  live  according  to  his  laws."^^ 
Hierocles  says  that  "  Christ  was  apprehended  and  crucified."  ^^ 

/8)  His  Death.     Celsus  says : 

"  Those  who  were  his  associates  while  alive,  on  seeing  him  subjected 
to  punishment  and  death,  neither  died  with  him  nor  for  him ;  .  .  . 
whereas  now  you  [Christians]  die  along  with  him."  ^  "  Seeing  you  are 
so  eager  for  some  novelty,  how  much  better  it  would  have  been  if  you 
had  chosen  as  the  object  of  your  zealous  homage  some  one  of  those  who 
died  a  glorious  death,"  rather  than  "  one  who  had  ended  a  most  infa- 
mous life  by  a  most  miserable  death."  ^^ 

The  Talmud  places  the  death  of  Jesus  definitely  at  the 
time  of  the  yearly  service  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  which  ac- 
cords with  the  Gospels.  It  says :  "  The  tradition  is  that  on 
the  evening  of  the  Passover,  Jesus  was  hanged  [upon  the 
cross];  they  hanged  him  on  the  eve  of  the  Passover."® 
The  rabbinical  work  called  Toledoth  Jeshu  confirms  the  state- 
ment :  "  Jesus  was  crucified  and  died  on  the  eve  of  the 
Passover."  Tacitus,  the  celebrated  Eoman  historian,  states : 
"  Christ,  the  founder  of  that  name,  was  put  to  death  as  a  crim- 
inal by  Pontius  Pilate,  procurator  of  Judaea,  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  "  ^^  Caesar. 

A  Syrian  document  of  late  discovery  named  Mara,  which 

is  of  extra-Biblical   character,   is  one  of    the   very  earliest 

heathen  writings  of  the  period.     In  reference  to  the  Jews  and 

their  relation  to  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  document 

reads : 

"  What  benefit  did  the  Jews  obtain  [by  the  execution]  of  their  wise 
King,  seeing  that  at  that  very  time  their  kingdom  was  driven  away 
[from  them]?    For  with  justice  did  God  grant  a  recompense,  .    ,   ,   and 

^Ant.  xvlil,  3. 3.  2^  Schaff's  Person  of  Christ,  201,  and  In  Peregrinus,  Lard,  vll, 

279,  280.  «  Cited  from  Lactantlus  In  Lard,  vll,  476. 

*8  Cels.  11, 45.  S9i6.  vll,  53.  30£a6.  Tal.  Sanhedr.  43,  a.       ^^AnTials,  xv,  44. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.  225 

the  Jews  were  brought  to  destruction,  and  expelled  from  their  kingdom  ; 
and  [now]  are  driven  away  into  every  land.  Socrates  did  not  die  be- 
cause of  Plato ;  nor  Pythagoras  because  of  the  statue  of  Hera ;  nor  yet 
the  wise  King  because  of  the  new  laws  which  he  enacted."  ^^ 

Dr.  Heinrich  Graetz,  professor  in  the  University  of  Breslau, 
Prussia,  himself  a  Jew,  and  the  recent  author  of  a  History  of 
the  Jews,  says,  touching  the  founding  of  Christianity : 

"  How  was  it  possible  to  discover  what  was  the  secret  of  this  sect  ? 
To  bring  that  to  light,  it  was  necessary  to  tempt  a  traitor  among  his 
followers,  and  that  traitor  was  found  in  Judas  Iscariot,  who,  as  it  is  re- 
lated, incited  by  avarice,  delivered  up  to  the  judges  the  man  whom  he 
had  honored  as  the  Messiah.  The  Christian  authorities  state  that  Jesus 
was  nailed  on  the  cross  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  that  he  ex- 
pired at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  His  last  words  were  taken 
from  a  Psalm,  and  spoken  in  the  Aramaic  tongue:  '  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?'  The  Roman  soldiers  placed  in  mockery  the 
following  inscription  upon  theci'oss:  'Jesus  of  Nazareth,  King  of  the 
Jews.'  The  cross  had  been  erected,  and  the  body  was  probably  buried 
outside  the  town,  on  the  spot  which  was  the  graveyard  of  condemned 
criminals.     It  was  called  Golgotha,  the  place  of  skulls." 

"  Such  was  the  end  of  the  Man  who  had  devoted  himself  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  most  neglected,  miserable,  and  abandoned  members 
of  the  people,  and  who  perhaps  fell  a  victim  to  a  misunderstanding.  How 
great  was  the  woe  caused  by  that  one  execution!  How  many  deaths  and 
sufferings  of  every  description  has  it  not  caused  among  the  children  of  Israel! 
Millions  of  broken  hearts  and  tragic  fates  have  not  atoned  for  his  death!  He 
is  the  only  mortal  of  whom  one  can  say,  without  exaggeration,  that  his  death 
was  more  effective  than  his  life.  Golgotha,  the  place  of  skulls,  became  to  the 
civilized  world  a  new  Sinai."  ^ 

y)  After  Events.  Celsus  once  more  witnesses  to  the  preter- 
natural darkness  and  to  the  earthquake  which  gave  emphasis 
to  the  crucifixion,  and  occurred  between  the  sixth  and  the 
ninth  hour  while  Christ  was  dying.     He  says : 

"  You  have  discovered  a  becoming  and  credible  termination  to  your 
drama  in  the  voice  from  the  cross,  when  he  breathed  his  last,  and  in 
the  earthquake  and  darkness."^'*  He  makes  "  a  taunt  also  of  the  blood 
of  Jesus  which  was  shed  upon  the  cross,"  saying,  "  What  is  the  nature 
of  the  ichor  in  the  body  of  the  crucified  Jesus  ?  Is  it  such  as  flows  in 
the  bodies  of  the  immortal  gods  ?  "     "  It  is  not  the  ichor  such  as  flows  in 

^  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  737;  Bchafif,  Hist.  Ch.  Church,  I,  171,  172, 
last  ed. 

ss  Hist,  of  Jews,  Eng.  ed.,  pp.  163, 165, 166.  «  Cels.  11,  55. 


226  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

the  veins  of  the  blessed  gods."^  Celsus  adds:  "  You  will  not,  I  sup- 
pose, say  of  him  that  after  failing  to  gain  over  those  who  were  in  this 
world,  he  went  to  Hades  to  gain  over  those  who  were  there." ^^ 

Even  the  skeptical  historian,  Edward  Gibbon,  affirms  the 
Scriptural  account  of  the  preternatural  phenomenon  when  he 
says : 

"  Under  the  reign  of  Tiberius  the  whole  earth,  or  at  least  a  cele- 
brated province  of  the  Roman  Empire,  was  involved  in  preternatural 
darkness  for  [the  space  of]  three  hours."  ^^ 

In  case  of  capital  punishment  it  was  the  established  custom 

of  the  Jews  to  cast  out  and  leave  exposed  ignominiously  the 

-«  ,    .^    *    remains  of  executed  malefactors,  unless  friends 

S  1 70.  Incidents  ' 

of  His  Burial,  of  the  criminal  made  request  of  the  authorities 
to  take  possession  of  the  dead  body  for  burial.  This  rule  was 
observed  in  the  case  of  Jesus.  Great  pains  were  taken  to 
know  that  the  man  executed  was  really  dead  before  the 
body  was  delivered  over  to  the  custody  of  the  friends.  How 
carefully  the  Eomans  observed  this  requirement  is  narrated 
in  the  sacred  text.  When  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  but  had  not  consented 
to  the  death  of  Jesus,  went  to  Pilate  and  requested  the 
possession  of  our  Lord's  body,  it  was  not  granted  to  him 
until  the  governor  had  ascertained  that  Jesus  had  indeed 
really  died.  This  assurance  was  given,  not  through  the 
friends  of  Christ,  nor  yet  through  the  honored  Sanhedrist  Jo- 
seph, hut  his  own  Roman  centurion,^  who  was  the  officer  of  the 
day,  and  in  whose  custody  the  hody  was  kept.  At  the  instance 
of  the  Jews,  to  hasten  death,  the  soldiers  approached  and  "  brake 
the  legs  of  the  first  and  of  the  other  who  were  crucified 
with  him ;  but  lohen  they  saio  that  he  was  dead  already, 
they  brake  not  his  legs;  but  one  of  the  soldiers  with  a 
spear  pierced  his  side,  and  forthwith  came  there  out  blood 

*  Tacitus  calls  this  officer,  "  exactor  mortis.'''' 

85  Ceis.  11, 36;  1,66;  comp.  John  xlx,34.  36/;,.  11,43;  comp.  1  Pet.  ill,  19;  Iv,  6. 

^Decline  and  Fall  of  Rum.  Empire,  1, 583, 581 ;  comp.  Matt,  xxvll,  45;  Luke  xxlil,  44. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.  227 

and  water.'"®     In  reference  to  the  disposition  of  the  body, 
Eabbi  Frey  says : 

"  Here  we  behold  another  instance  of  the  interposing  providence  of 
God  to  fulfill  the  Scripture.  Had  the  common  and  natural  course  of 
things  taken  place,  if  no  friend  had  obtained  the  body  of  Jesus,  it  would 
have  been  ignominiously  cast  among  the  executed  malefactors.  But  if 
his  body  had  been  thrown  there,  the  prediction  could  not  have  been 
fulfilled."  S9 

The  Toledoth  Jeshu  relates  that  Jesus  was  buried  hefore  the 
Jewish  Sabhath  hegan,  which  is  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
statements  of  the  Evangelists.  That  is,  the  burial  ^^rj^  Burial 
occurred  on  Friday  evening,  the  day  of  the  execu-  o*'  Jesus. 
tion,  before  the  set  of  sun,  the  Jewish  Sabbath  being  Saturday, 
reckoning  from  sunset  of  the  day  before.  John  is  the  only 
Evangelist  who  locates  the  place  of  his  sepulcher.     He  says : 

"  Now  in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified  there  was  a  garden ;  and 
in  the  garden  a  new  sepulcher  wherein  was  never  man  yet  laid ;  there 
laid  they  Jesus,  therefore,  because  of  the  Jews'  preparation  day ;  for  the 
sepulcher  was  nigh  at  hand."  ** 

The  prophet  Isaiah  had  predicted,  "  His  rest  shall  be  glo- 
rious," ^^  which  accords  with  the  Vulgate  version;*^  a  Scrip- 
ture, which  Abrabanel  says,  "  may  be  expounded  of  Messiah's 
honorable  burial."  ^ 

REVIEW  OF  THE  TESTIMONIES. 

What  is  the  state  of  the  case  as  narrated  by  the  Evangelist 
respecting  the  death  of  Christ  as  actually  accomplished  on  the 
cross,  and  how  has  it  been  absolutely  confirmed  ^^^^  The  case 
by  Christ's  adversaries  ?  This  point  is  made  un-  stated, 
mistakably  clear  in  the  second  Gospel.  Mark,  in  his  careful- 
ness to  give  details  with  all  correctness,  narrates  very  circum- 
stantially the  several  particulars  which  arose  after  the  cruci- 

38  John  xlx,  31-37.  »9 Messiahship  of  Jesus,  p.  260.    See  Mishna  Sanhed. 

c.  1,  $5  5, 6;  Maimonides,  Hilch.  Sanhed.  c.  14,  $9. 

^Johnxlx,  41,  42.  «Isa.  xi,10. 

«The  Vulgate  re&As.:  "Brit  sepulchrum  ejus  gloriosum "—£?»«  grave  shall  be 
glorious.    The  Rabbis  refer  this  passage  to  the  Messiah. 

*5  R.  Frey's  Messiahshijj  of  Jesus,  2(51. 


228  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

fixion,  preliminary  to  the  burial  of  Christ's  body.  Incident- 
ally, but  fortunately  for  us,  he  employed  terms  which  are 
absolutely  determinati've  of  the  case  as  to  his  death.  When 
Joseph  requested  leave  to  bury  the  body,  Pilate  was  amazed 
that  Jesus  was  already  dead,  and  sent  his  trusted  officer,  the 
Roman  centurion,  to  ascertain  the  exact  state  of  the  case,  and 
then  return  and  report  to  himself  personally.  Upon  having 
learned  the  fact  the  following  significant  sentence  occurs  in 
the  narration :  ^^And  when  hs  learned  it  of  the  centurion^  he 
granted  the  corpse  to  Joseph^  ^ 

About  thirty  circumstances  in  all  connected  with  the  cru- 
cifixion are  recorded  authentically  in  the  Gospels,  and  are 
§173  The  Re-  Confirmed  by  adversaries.  Celsus  and  the  Talmud 
capitulation,  mention  the  proffered  vinegar  and  gall  which 
Jesus  refused  on  the  cross ;  but  the  Toledoth  Jeshu  affirms  that 
he  afterwards  received  and  drank  the  vinegar  alone.  To 
make  the  assurance  of  Christ's  death  doubly  sure,  the  soldier 
pierced  his  side  with  the  spear,  whence  flowed  forth  blood. 
Hence  Celsus  draws  special  attention  to  this  fact  and  the 
^^ichor^^  the  supposed  blood  of  the  gods.  Josephus  relates 
that  Jesus  was  condemned  to  the  cross  by  Pilate ;  Hierocles, 
that  he  was  "  apprehended  and  crucified ;"  Lucian,  that  Jesus 
"  was  crucified  in  Palestine ;"  the  Toledoth,  that  he  was  "  cru- 
cified and  died ;"  the  Talmud,  that  his  death  occurred  "  on 
the  evening  of  the  Passover ;"  and  the  Toledoth  confrms  the 
Talmud. 

The  Roman  historian  Tacitus,  with  marked  completeness, 
epitomizes  all  the  essential  facts  in  his  own  historical  method. 
He  gives  the  name  Christ  to  the  person  who  was  executed ; 
the  fact,  that  he  was  put  to  death  as  a  supposed  criminal ;  his 
place  in  history,  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  name  ;  his  execu- 
tion, by  the  order  of  Pontius  Pilate ;  the  office  of  the  rider,  the 
procurator  of  the  Romans;  the  country  which  he  ruled,  the 

*^Mark  xv,  45,  Rev.  Vers.  The  Greek  is  remarkably  explicit,  rb  irrufw.,  the 
dead  body,  in  contradistinction  from  rb  <rwyita,  the  body  (living  or  dead). 


Passion,  Death,  and  Bueial  of  Jesus  Christ.  229 

province  of  Judaea ;  the  time  of  Pilate's  ruling^  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  Csesar.  The  statements  of  the  Evangelists  affirming 
the  death  of  Jesus  are  verified  as  authentic  and  historical  be- 
yond recall  by  this  one  profane  historian  alone.  The  man  who 
would  deny  it  as  a  fact  would  not  be  benefited  by  any  histor- 
ical investigation.  Moreover,  the  credibility  of  Tacitus  is  thus 
declared  by  the  "free-thinking"  Gibbon,  whose  dislike  of 
Christianity  was  as  cordial  as  it  was  unjust.  In  a  single  para- 
graph descriptive  of  the  persecutions  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians under  the  rule  of  the  Emperor  Nero,  Gibbon  says : 

"  The  most  skeptical  criticism  is  obliged  to  respect  the  truth  of  this 
fact  and  the  integi'ity  of  this  celebrated  passage  of  Tacitus.  The  former 
[its  truth]  is  confirmed  by  the  diligent  Suetonius,  who  mentions  the  pun- 
ishment which  Nero  inflicted  upon  the  Christians ;  the  latter  [the  integ- 
rity] may  be  proved  by  the  consent  of  the  most  ancient  manuscripts, 
by  the  inimitable  character  of  Tacitus,  and  by  his  reputation,  which 
guarded  his  text  from  interpolation,"  etc.^ 

CHRISTIAN    CONFIRMATIONS, 

The  first  four  Pauline  Epistles,  which  are  accepted  by  all 
living  skeptics  as  thoroughly  authentic  and  credible,  confirm 
the  witness  of  Celsus  in  respect  to  the  doctrine  of   „  ,„,  „   ^. 

^  §  174.  Testi- 

Christ's  death  as  a  Redeemer.     Paul's  testimony  mony  of  the 

must  stand  for  the  teachings  of  all  the  apostles 

on  this  doctrine.     It  is  in  effect  that  in  the  sufferings  and 

death  of  Jesus  he  made  atonement  for  mankind ;  and  that  the 

atonement  makes  possible  to  all  men  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 

and  renders  an  endless  salvation  certain  to  all  who  believe  on 

him  to  that  end.     It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  preternatural 

darkness  witnessed  by  Celsus  is  amply  confirmed  by  Christian 

Apologists.     Paul  teaches : 

"  In  due  time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.  "While  we  were  yet  sin- 
ners Christ  died  for  us."  ^^  "And  he  died  for  all.  God  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  reckoning  unto  them  their  tres- 
passes. Him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to  be  a  sin  [-offering]  on  our  be- 
half."'*^ "  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  our  sins.  Christ 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us."  ^ 

*^  Decline  and  Fall  of  Rom.  Emp.,  Mllman's  ed.,  Vol.  1,  602. 
«Rom.v,  6,  8, 11.  "  2  Cor.  V,  15, 19,  21.  «  Gal,  1,  4;  111,  13. 


230         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  teaching  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  the  pupils  of  the 
apostles,  is  to  the  same  effect.     Their  teaching  illustrates  how 
they  were  apostolically  taught. 

§175,   Testi-  "^  ^  ^  o 

mony  of  the         a)  Barnabas:  "It  was  necessary  for  him  to  suffer  on 

Apostolic      tj^g  Wee.    Thou  art  taught  concerning  the  cross  and  him 

Fathers.        ^^^^^  ^^^  crucified.    If  the  Son  of  God  .    .    .    suffered  that 

his  wound  might  give  us  life,  let  us  believe  that  the  Son  of  God  could 

not  suffer  except  for  our  sakes."  *^ 

/3)  Ignatius:  "  The  Son  of  Mary  .  .  .  was  truly  persecuted  under 
Pontius  Pilate ;  was  truly  crucified  and  died  in  the  sight  of  those  in 
heaven,  and  those  on  earth,  and  those  under  the  earth.^"  [He  was]  truly 
nailed  up  in  the  flesh  for  our  sakes,  under  Pontius  Pilate  and  Herod  the 
tetrarch,  .  .  .  that  he  might  be  an  ensign  unto  all  ages."  Be  ye  fully 
persuaded  concerning  the  birth  and  passion,  and  the  resurrection  which 
took  place  in  the  time  of  the  governorship  of  Pontius  Pilate."  ^^ 

The  witness  of  the  Christian  Apologists  is  of  a  little  later 
date. 

§176.   Testi- 
mony of  a)  Aristides:    "The  Christians  reckon  the  beginning 

Christian       of  their  religion  from  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  named  the  Son 

Apologists.      ^j  Qq^j  ^yj^g^.  High."  53 

/3)  Tertullian:  "The  Jews  were  so  exasperated  by  his  [Christ's] 
teachings  by  which  the  rulers  and  chiefs  were  convicted  of  the  truth, 
chiefly  because  so  many  turned  aside  to  him,  that  at  last  they  brought 
him  before  Pontius  Pilate,  at  that  time  governor  of  Syria,  and  by  the 
violence  of  the  outcries  against  him  extorted  a  sentence  giving  him  up 
to  them  to  be  crucified.  .  .  .  Nailed  upon  the  cross,  he  exhibited 
many  notable  signs  by  which  his  death  was  distinguished  from  all  others. 
...  All  these  things  Pilate  did  to  Christ.  ...  He  sent  word  of  him 
to  the  reigning  Csesar  who  was  at  that  time  Tiberius."  In  the  same 
hour,  too  [of  his  crucifixion],  the  light  of  day  was  withdrawn,  when  the 
sun  at  the  very  time  was  in  his  meridian  blaze.  Those  who  were  not 
aware  that  this  had  been  predicted  about  Christ  no  doubt  thought  it  an 
eclipse.  You  yourselves  have  the  account  of  the  world-portent  still  in 
your  archives."^ 

y)  Jerome  (b.  about  330  A.  D.) :  In  his  Commentary  on 
Matthew^  he  remarks  respecting  the  darkness  which  prevailed 
from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour  of  Christ's  crucifixion : 

"They  who  have  written  against  the  Gospels  suspect  that  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  in  their  account  of  our  Lord's  resurrection,  have  mistaken 
the  darkness  which  was  only  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  that  happens  at  cer- 

«  Barn.  Epls.  cc.  5, 12,  7,  8.        60  Epls.  to  Trails,  c.  9.        "  Epls.  to  Smyrns.  1,  2. 
62Epls.  to  Mags.c.  11.  63  Aria,  ^poiogrj/,  p.  37.        siTertuU.  ^poJ.  c.21. 

66  Tertull.  Apol,  c.  21.  66  Matt,  xxvii,  45. 


Passion,  Death,  and  Burial  of  Jesus  Christ.  231 

tain  seasons  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things ;  whereas  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  can  never  happen  but  at  the  time  of  the  new  moon;  and  all  the  world 
knows  that  at  the  Passover  it  was  full  moon;  and  that  there  might  be  no 
pretense  for  saying  that  this  darkness  was  owing  to  the  shadow  of  the 
earth,  or  to  an  interposition  of  the  moon  between  us  and  the  sun,  it  is 
recorded  to  have  continued  for  the  space  of  three  hours." 

About  sixty  distinct  circumstances  and  doctrines  have  been 
cited  in  this  chapter,  related  to  the  sufferings,  death,  and  burial 
of  Jesus  Christ.  These  are  the  fundamental  §177,  conciu- 
facts  on  which  rest  all  the  teachings  of  the  New  ®^°°* 

Testament.  But  for  these  as  foundation,  Christianity  had 
never  existed.  "Without  them,  Christianity  would  perish; 
with  them,  it  can  not  be  overthrown.  They  are  facts  substan- 
tiated as  historical,  in  the  first  instance,  by  those  of  known 
hostility  to  this  religion  who  lived  in  the  first  three  Christian 
centuries.  Their  witness  is  confirmed  by  the  concededly 
authentic  Epistles  of  Paul,  as  well  as  by  the  apostles'  succes- 
sors, the  Apostolic  Fathers  and  the  Christian  Apologists,  who 
defended  the  faith  before  the  rulers  of  their  times.  Thus  the 
continuity  of  current  history  is  preserved  in  this  evidence.  But 
few  questions  of  like  early  antiquity  admit  of  such  a  wealth  of 
clear  and  conclusive  proof  as  do  these  facts  recorded  in  the 
four  Gospels.  Can  the  foundation  of  this  religion  be  true, 
and  the  superstructure  be  shown  to  be  false?  The  capital 
facts  being  proved,  can  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament 
resting  thereupon  be  disproved?  The  facts  and  evidence 
adduced  legitimate  the  following 

Inductions. 

1.  That  Jesus  Christ  did  actually  die  on  the  cross  is  true  as  all 

the  Gospels  state. 

2.  That  this  occurred  in  the  rule  of  Pontius  Pilate,  and  in  the 

reign  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius. 

3.  That  the  event  took  place  at  Jerusalem,  in  Judaea,  in  a 

country  called  Palestine. 


232         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

4.  That  the  occasion  taken  for  Christ's  crucifixion,  was  at  the 

Jewish  Passover. 

5.  That  his  death  was  a  realized  fact  exactly  at  the  hour  of 

the  evening  sacrifice. 

6.  That  the  apostolic  teaching  was,  the  death  of  Jesus  was  an 

atonement  for  mankind. 

7.  That  the  evidence  adduced  proves  the  antiquity  and  authen- 

ticity of  the  New  Testament. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  KESUERECTION  OF  JESUS  CHKIST. 

I.  Incidents  Related  to  His  Resurrection. 

1.  The  Resurrection  and  its  Witnesses. 

2.  Movements  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrists. 

3.  Story  of  the  Roman  Guard  Incredible. 

4.  Attitude  of  Christ's  Disciples. 

II.  Evangelists'  Narratives  of  the  Resurrection. 
o)   Their  Individual  Accounts  as  given. 
/3)  Their  several  Christophanies  Arranged. 
y)  The  Ten  Reappearances  of  Christ. 
S)  The  Difficulties  of  the  Narratives. 
e)   The  several  Difficulties  Resolved. 

III.  Gospels  Confirmed  by  the  Enemies  op  Christianity. 
Celsus — Toledoth  Jeshu — the  Talmud. 

TV.  Rbcorroborations  by  Friends  of  Christianiyy. 

o)  Apostolic  Fathers:  Barnabas — Clement — Ignatius. 
/3)  Christian  Apologists  •  Aristides — Tertullian — Origen. 
7)  Paul's  Several  Testimonies. 

V.  Monumental  Evidence  op  the  Resurrection. 

a.  The  Christian  Church. 

b.  The  Christian  Sabbath. 

VI.  Modern  Theories  respecting  the  Resurrection. 
i.  The  Theory  that  it  was  a  Swoon. 
ii.  The  Theory  of  a  Hallucination. 
iii.  The  Witness  of  Modern  Skepticism. 

Dr.  Keim — Dr.  Ewald — Dr.  Schenkel — Dr.  Baur. 

Inductions. 
233 


Chapter  X. 
THE  RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

§  1 78.    Sources :  Biographical  Epitomes,  and  Literature. 

1.  Clement  op  Rome  (Epis.  A.  D.  95)  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 

the  Apostolic  Fathers.  He  was  the  pupil  and  companion  of  Paul, 
whom  the  apostle  commends  as  one  of  those  "  fellow-laborers 
whose  names  are  written  in  the  Book  of  Life."  (Phil,  iv,  3.)  Dr. 
Schaff  regarded  him  as  probably  descended  from  the  distinguished 
Flavian  family,  and  hence  related  to  the  imperial  household  at 
Rome.  He  says:  "The  imperial  household  seems  to  have  been 
the  center  of  the  Church  at  Rome  from  the  time  of  Paul's  impris- 
onment." (Ch.  Hist.  II,  Q38,  n.)  This  is  quite  obvious  from  the 
apostle's  own  expressions:  "  My  bonds  in  Christ  are  manifest  in 
all  the  palace."  "  All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  that  are 
of  Caesar's  household."     (Phil,  i,  13 ;  iv,  22.) 

Clement  was  a  man  of  noble  character,  of  superior  adminis- 
trative abilities,  and  of  great  spirituality.  Bryennios  believed 
that  for  nine  years  he  was  Bishop  of  Rome.  (Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.  II, 
638,  n.)  He  died  a  natural  death,  about  A.  D.  100,  in  the  third 
year  of  Trajan's  reign.  His  epistle  addressed  to  the  Corinthians 
was  written  about  95  (Lightfoot),  and  it  sought  to  compose  an 
unhappy  feud  which  had  occurred  in  that  Church  occasioned  by 
the  illegal  deposing  of  certain  presbyters  who  had  been  rightfully 
made  such  by  the  apostles  themselves.  (Epis.  xliv-xlvii.)  The 
aggressive  party  had  earlier  been  subject  to  discipline  under  Paul. 
(1  Cor.  i,  12,  13.)  Clement's  epistle  does  not  assume  to  have  the 
authority  of  Divine  inspiration,  but  is  advisory  in  character.  It 
consists  of  sixty-six  chapters  ;  and  if  we  except  the  epistle  of  Bar- 
nabas (70-79),  this  is  "the  oldest  Christian  writing  after  the 
apostles."  It  is  said  to  have  been  conveyed  to  the  Church  at  Cor- 
inth by  one  Claudius  Ephebus,  Valerius  Biton,  and  one  Fortunatus, 
who  endeavored  to  undo  the  wrong,  restore  the  right,  and,  after 
conciliation,  returned  to  Rome  with  assurances  of  peace. 

2.  PoLYCARp  (69-155)  was  the  "  last  witness  of  the  Apostolic  Age."    He 

was  the  disciple  of  the  Apostle  John.  He  was  held  in  the  highest 
reverence  by  those  who  knew  him  best,  especially  because  of  his 
very  spiritual  character.     Even  his  heretical  adversaries  are  said  to 

235 


236         IIiSTOEicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

have  coveted  his  gracious  consideration.  He  was  elevated  to  the 
episcopate  about  the  year  104.  Because  of  his  previous  relations 
with  John,  it  is  understood  by  many  that  our  Lord's  letter  dictated 
in  the  Apocalypse  referred  to  Polycarp  when  it  was  dedicated  "  To 
the  Angel  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna."     (Rev.  ii,  8-10.) 

A  letter  had  been  sent  by  the  Church  at  Philippi  to  the  Bishop 
of  Smyrna.  The  epistle  of  Polycarp  is  his  reply.  It  was  written 
soon  after  the  death  of  Ignatius,  the  Bishop  of  Antioch,  Syria.  It 
answered  inquiries  respecting  that  event  which  occurred  at  Rome, 
mentioning  Zosimus  and  Rufus  (c.  9),  who  are  understood  to  have 
accompanied  Ignatius  on  his  way  to  the  Capital,  and  wei-e  present 
at  his  martyrdom.  This  epistle  contains  fourteen  chapters,  in 
which  is  found  invaluable  testimony  respecting  the  crucifixion  and 
the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  our  Lord,  as  well  as  the  identity 
of  the  doctrines  as  taught  with  those  in  the  New  Testament. 

3.  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur  (1792-1860),  of  Wtlrtemberg,  was  elected 

Professor  of  Church  Histoi'y  at  Tubingen  in  1826,  where  he 
founded  his  famous  school  of  destructive  criticisin,  and  found  a 
following  by  Strauss,  Schwegler,  and  others.  One  of  the  most 
notable  writings  of  history  is  his  Christianity  and  the  Church  in  the 
First  Three  Centuries  (2  vols.,  London,  1878,  1879)  ;  also  a  treatise 
on  Paul.  He  could  see  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  apostles  to 
account  for  the  strange  power  of  Christianity,  but  the  differences 
which  he  supposed  to  exist  among  the  apostles  in  the  controversy 
between  Paul  and  Peter  at  Antioch.  His  hypothesis,  however, 
has  been  thoroughly  refuted  by  other  writers  of  the  destructive 
school.  Baur  employed  the  first  four  epistles  of  Paul  (Romans, 
1  Corinthians,  2  Corinthians,  and  Galatians)  as  authentic  and 
credible  to  assail  Christianity.  If  these  epistles  are  good  for  the 
attack,  they  are  equally  good  for  the  defense.  All  these  epistles  are 
credited  now  by  all  the  destructive  critics. 

4.  Heinrich  August  von  Ewald,  a  famous  Biblicist  and  a  native  of  Got- 

tingen.  He  was  chosen  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  the  University 
of  Gottingen  in  1831,  and  again  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  in 
the  same  institution  in  1835.  In  1838  he  went  to  Tubingen  as 
Professor  of  Theology.  His  chief  writings  noted  here  were  his 
Hebrew  Grammar,  The  Poetic  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  (4  vols.)  ; 
A  History  of  the  People  of  Israel  until  the  Advent  of  Christ  (7  vols.)  ; 
History  of  the  Apostolic  Age;  and  the  Year-Book  of  Biblical  Science. 
Dr.  Ewald  belonged  to  the  more  learned  and  conservative  critics. 
He  was  born  in  1802,  and  died  in  1875. 

5.  Theodore  Keim  (1825-1878)  was  a  native  of  Wilrtemberg,  a  student 

in  the  University  of  Tilbingen  under  the  instruction  of  Baur  in 
the  study  of  Philosophy,  Biblical  Criticism,  and  Ecclesiastical 
History,    He  became  tutor  in   the  University  of  Bonn,  also  at 


The  Restjreection  of  Jesus  Christ.  237 

Tubingen  (1851-1855),  and  subsequently  was  chosen  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  University  of  Zurich.  His  chief  works  are  the 
Reformation  in  Germany ;  The  Historical  Christ  (1866),  a  work 
which  made  him  famous  ;  and  a  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara  (3  vols., 
1867-1872,  Eng.  ed.  6  vols.,  1873).  Dr.  Keim  was  a  moderate  liber- 
alist,  very  scholarly  and  very  fair  and  candid. 

6.  Matthew  Arnold  (born  1822)  was  educated  at  Rugby  and  Oxford ; 

became  Professor  of  Poetry  in  1857.  Among  his  prose  writings 
were  his  Essays  on  Criticism  (in  1865)  ;  St.  Paul  and  Protestantism 
(in  1870)  ;  Literature  and  Dogma  (1873)  ;  The  Church  and  Religion 
(1877);  Literature  and  Science  (1883,  1884),  a  course  of  Lectures 
in  the  United  States.  In  theology,  Dr.  Arnold  was  a  so-called 
liberalist. 

7.  EiCHAKD  Whately  (1787-1863)  was  an  Anglican  writer  and  prelate, 

born  at  London.  He  was  educated  at  Oriel  College,  Oxford, 
where  he  graduated  in  1812.  He  was  the  author  of  a  work  on 
Logic,  and  one  on  Rhetoric— works  which  won  him  much  fame.  He 
delivered  a  course  of  Bampton  Lectures  in  1822,  on  the  Uses  and 
Abuses  of  Party  Feeling  in  Religion ;  and  in  1819  he  issued  a  re- 
markably ingenious  work  which  was  satirical  in  character  on 
Skepticism,  entitled  Historical  Doubts  Relative  to  the  Existence  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.  His  writings  were  quite  numerous  and  very 
valuable,  indicating  keen  insight  and  scholarly  acuteness.  He 
also  added  his  Annotations  to  Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
which  also  are  valuable. 

8.  W.  Beyschlag,  an   orthodox   writer    of    Germany,    who,    however, 

brought  criticism  upon  him  and  his  class  of  thinkers  by  his  Essay 
written  and  published  at  Altenburg  in  1864,  in  which  he  contended 
in  Christology  for  two  separate  natures  in  Christ,  amounting  to 
dualism  in  his  personal  life,  and  denied  Christ's  pre-existence  as 
a  personality,  and,  by  consequence,  denying  the  Incarnation  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

§179.  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  history  of  the  life  of  Christ  on  earth  closes  with  a  miracle  as  great 

as  that  of  its  inception. — Dr.  Edersheim. 
Nothing  is  historically  more  certain  than  that  Christ  rose  from  the  dead 

and  appeared  to  his  own  [disciples],  and  that  this  their  vision  was 

the  beginning  of  a  new,  higher  faith,  and  of  all  their  Christian 

labors. — Dr.  Ewald. 
Nothing  but  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection  could  disperse  the  doubts 

which  threatened  to  drive  faith  into  the  eternal  night  of  death. 

For  the  faith  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  became  the  most  solid  and 

the  most  irrefutable  certainty. — F.  C.  Baur. 


238         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  Xew  Testament. 

The  unhesitating  denial  of  the  resurrection,  in  spite  of  the  serious  diffi- 
culties which  exist  in  conflict  with  the  belief  of  so  many  among 
the  laity,  is  the  fruit  of  neither  a  scientific  nor  a  religious  con- 
science. We  are  not  able  to  comprehend  how  the  Christian 
Church,  with  all  its  clearness  of  mind,  with  all  its  earnestness  of 
moral  purpose,  could  have  been  founded  as  the  result  of  overex- 
cited visions. — Dr.  Keim. 

"We  feel  how  boundless  is  the  caprice  which  would  remove  the  glorious 
solution  from  the  history  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  transfer  it 
henceforth  to  the  history  of  the  apostles  and  their  self-deception. 
— Dr.  Van  Oosterzee. 

It  is  infinitely  easier  to  admit  that  the  Christian  Church  is  the  offspring 
of  a  miracle  than  to  imagine  it  to  be  born  of  a  lie. — Beyschlag. 

ARGUMENT. 

That  same  Jesus  who  was  crucified,  and  was  dead  and  buried  in  a 
sepulcher  of  stone,  arose  and  reappeared  in  bodily  form  and  life 
on  the  third  day.  He  was  seen  alive  by  his  disciples,  with  whom 
he  continued  in  familiar  intercourse  for  the  space  of  forty  days. 
To  the  understanding  of  both  friends  and  foes  his  resurrection 
was  at  first  a  stumbling-block,  and  was  rejected  by  them  alike  as 
untrue.  Neither  accepted  it  until  the  fact  had  demonstrated  its 
reality  to  their  personal  senses  and  consciousness.  Neither  was 
prepared  for  such  a  miraculous  event,  which  began  at  once  and 
continues  yet  to  revolutionize  the  faiths  of  the  world.  The 
enemies  of  Christianity  have  ever  sought  to  deny  this  marvelous 
occurrence  which  they  have  never  been  able  to  refute— this 
imperishable  fact  and  truth  upon  which  the  Christian  religion 
reposes  as  its  foundation. 

The  story  invented  by  the  Jews  to  be  circulated  by  the  soldiery,  that 
the  body  of  Jesus  was  stolen  by  night,  is  found  to  be  transparently 
false,  as  it  is  preposterously  absurd.  And  so  far  from  being 
grounded  in  the  mental  hallucination  of  the  apostles,  the  rising 
of  Jesus  from  the  sepulcher  of  death  was  a  surprise  to  mankind, 
as  it  was  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the  source  of  exhaustless 
consolation  and  joy  to  the  redeemed ;  a  fact  whose  power  con- 
tinues to  this  day,  and  will  continue  until  the  end  of  time,  to 
influence  the  thought  and  order  the  character  of  the  best  portion 
of  mankind.  There  are  two  monuments  of  his  resurrection,  the 
Christian  Church  and  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

1.  Incidents  related  to  his  Resurrection. 

2.  The  True  History  of  his  Resurrection. 

3.  Confirmatory  Proof  of  his  Resurrection. 

4.  Monumental  Evidence  of  his  Resurrection. 

5.  Modern  Theories  of  his  Resurrection. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  239 

Lord  Lyndhurst  died  in  1863,  after  having  been  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England  for  the  fourth  time.  During  his  last 
illness,  and  near  its  end,  a  friend  visited  him,  and 
found  him  occupying  his  mind  with  a  pile  of  Lsmdhi^st 
infidel  Avorks,  gleaning  the  strongest  objections  and  Matthew 
adduced  against  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  great  judicial  mind  had  been  carefully  investigating  the 
evidence  of  this  capital  fact  of  Christianity,  when,  turning  to 
his  friend,  he  said:  "Of  evidence  I  may  be  allowed  to  be  as 
competent  a  judge  as  most  men,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  such 
evidence  as  might  he  adduced  for  the  resurrection  of  Christ  has 
never  hrohen  down^  Dr.  Matthew  Arnold,  a  critic  and  a  man 
not  suspected  of  too  much  leaning  toward  orthodoxy,  did  not 
hesitate  to  say:  "I  have  been  used  for  man}''  years  to  study 
the  history  of  other  times,  and  to  examine  and  weigh  the 
evidence  of  those  who  have  written  about  them,  and  I  know 
of  no  fact  in  the  history  of  mankind  which  is  proved  by  better 
or  fuller  evidence  of  every  sort,  to  the  mind  of  a  fair  inquirer, 
than  the  great  sign  that  God  has  given  us  that  Christ  died 
and  rose  again  from  the  dead."  This  subject  has  been  an 
open  challenge  for  honest  investigation  for  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years. 

I.  Significant  Incidents  of  the  Case  Stated. 

No  believer  in  Christ  saw  Jesus  in  the  act  of  rising  from 
the  dead.     Ko  sacred  writer  affirms  that  the  eyes  of  man 
beheld  him  in  the  glory  of  that  supreme  moment. 
Exactly  what  they  state  is,  that  when  his  friends        tion  and 
on  the  third  morning  looked  into  the  sepulcher 
to  find  the  lifeless  body  of  their  Lord,  to  their  surprise  it  had 
disappeared,  and  they  found  only  an  empty  tomb !     However, 
this  is  far  from  saying  that  there  were  no  witnesses  of  Christ's 
resurrection ;  for  with  one  united  voice,  in  private  and  in  pub- 
lic, before  friends  and  before  foes,  in  the  presence  of  the  mul- 
titude in  the  temple  and  before  the  Sanhedrin,  the  Jews'  senate 
16 


240         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaisient. 

of  judicature,  on  all  occasions  and  in  all  places,  immediately 
after  the  wondrous  occurrence,  and  ever  afterwards,  without 
explanation,  without  qualification,  and  without  hesitation,  the 
apostles  claimed  and  proclaimed  themselves  as  witnesses  of 
the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection  from  the  dead.  They  dis- 
tinctly affirm  the  event,  not  ujpon  the  transient  sight  in  seeing 
him  rising  out  of  the  sepulcher,  but  upon  that  more  enduring 
ground,  his  reappearance  and  continuance  in  closest  personal 
relation  with  themselves  for  the  space  of  forty  days  after  he  had 
risen.     This  is  the  sum  of  their  testimony : 

"He  showed  himself  alive  after  his  passion,  by  many  infallible 
proofs,  being  seen  of  them  forty  days,  and  speaking  of  the  things  per- 
taining to  the  kingdom  of  God."^  "Him  God  raised  up  the  third  day 
and  showed  him  openly  .  .  .  unto  witnesses  chosen  before  of  God, 
even  to  us  ivho  did  eat  and  drink  with  him  after  he  rose  from  the  dead."^ 
"This  Jesus  did  God  raise  up,  whereof  we  all  are  witnesses."^ 

If  the  eyes  of  man  did  indeed  behold  Jesus  in  his  resurrec- 
tion thus  attested,  it  was  not  his  friends  who  saw  him  rise,  but 
the  Roman  ffuard  granted  by  Pilate  at  the  Jews' 

§182.  Move-  '^  °  .  , 

ments  of  request,  who  were  stationed  as  watchers  over 
Adversaries.  Qj^^jg^,g  lifeless  body  in  the  tomb.  For  some 
reason,  on  Friday  evening  the  high  priests,  who  were  Saddu- 
cees,  and  the  Pharisees  who  believed  in  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  became  keenly  apprehensive  of  possible  occurrences, 
and  were  extremely  careful  concerning  things  which  might 
happen.  The  tumultuous  and  exhaustive  scenes  of  the  cruci- 
fixion had  closed,  followed  by  the  generous  hush  of  the  night; 
but  the  Jewish  leaders  became  more  thoughtful,  reflective, 
and  restless.  For  once  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  make 
common  cause,  and  go  together  to  Pilate,  saying,  "Sir,  we 
remember  that  that  deceiver  said  while  he  was  yet  alive, 
After  three  days  I  will  rise  again.*  Command  therefore  that 
the  sepulcher  be  made  sure  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  dis- 
ciples come  by  night  and  steal  him  away,  and  they  say  unto 

lActsl,  3.  2/6.  X,  40,  41.  3/6.11,82.  ••Matt,  xxvll,  62-66. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  241 

the  people,  He  is  risen  from  the  dead ;  so  the  last  error  shall 
be  worse  than  the  first."  Their  request  was  reasonable  and 
readily"  granted  them,  and  every  precaution  was  then  taken 
under  their  own  direction  against  possible  imposture.  "Pilate 
said  unto  them.  Ye  have  a  guard :  go  make  it  as  sure  as  3^e 
can.  So  they  went  and  made  the  sepulcher  sure,  sealing  the 
stone,  the  guard  being  with  them."  The  great  stone  at  the 
door  is  placed,  the  seal  of  the  Roman  ruler  is  set  upon  it,  the 
molestation  of  which  is  death;  the  watchers  charged  with  the 
custody  of  the  body  are  posted;  and  in  the  silence  of  the 
night,  broken  only  by  the  tramp  of  the  guard  outside  on  duty, 
all  are  waiting  and  watching  for  the  issues  of  the  morning. 
But  a  surprise  came  upon  them  from  an  unexpected  quarter 
with  the  early  dawn.  It  was  not  the  stealthy  approach  of  the 
disciples  as  anticipated,  whom  weapons  might  easily  subdue, 
but  dumb  Kature  herself  struggling  convulsively  to  articulate 
and  give  emphasis  to  the  hour.  "There  was  a  great  earth- 
quake ;  for  an  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven  and 
came  and  rolled  away  the  stone  and  sat  upon  it.  His  appear- 
ance was  like  lightning,  and  his  raiment  white  as  snow;  and 
for  fear  of  him,  the  keepers  did  shake  and  became  as  dead 
men." 

"  Some  of  the  guard  "  hasten  into  the  city  to  tell  the  "  chief 
priests  all  things  that  were  come  to  pass."^  What  could  have 
been  the  burden  of  that  report,  other  than  that 

,       .  ^         '  §183.  The  story 

Jesus  had  risen  and  forsaken  that  sepulcher?  of  the  Roman 
Something  must  have  happened  or  they  would  not 
have  hastened  to  tnake  a  report  at  all.  They  woidd  have  had  no 
report  to  make.  It  must  have  been  something  that  interested 
the  Jews,  in  whose  special  interest  they  had  been  guarding 
the  tomb;  for  they  go  first  to  the  high  priests  to  report, 
instead  of  to  Pilate,  the  Roman  procurator,  or  to  their  own 
military  officer.  It  was  something  which  interested  the 
soldiers;  for  the  supreme  matter  with  them  was  that  they 

6Matt.  xxviii,  4, 11-15. 


242         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

were  charged  with  the  keeping  of  the  body  in  their  own 
custody  in  the  sepulcher.  No  report  of  "all  things  that  had 
come  to  pass"  could  have  been  made  leaving  out  the  one 
capital  fact  that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead.  They  after- 
wards confess  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  missing,  however 
they  would  account  for  it.  Something  did  occur,  and  it  was 
that  something  to  which  the  earthquake  and  the  descending 
angel  were  but  the  background  giving  prominence  to  the 
picture.  They  go,  therefore,  to  the  high  priests  first,  who 
were  especially  interested  to  know  what  had  become  of  the 
body  of  Jesus,  which  had  been  placed  under  their  care.  It  is 
evident  and  obvious  that  all  prior  arrangements  had  this  one 
object  in  view, — to  have  the  custody  of  the  dead  man  in  his 
sepulcher  in  their  own  power  until  the  third  day.  Now,  how 
could  the  guard  tell  all  the  occurrences  of  the  morning  unless 
they  themselves  had  witnessed  them?  There  were  no  other 
parties  to  inform  them  of  the  facts.  If,  then,  mortal  eyes  did 
see  Jesus  in  the  very  act  of  rising,  it  was  not  his  friends  who 
were  the  first  to  witness  and  tell  it,  but  the  enemies  of  Jesus 
who  attested  it,  while  heaven  and  earth  combined  to  demon- 
strate its  certainty. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  guard,  and  hearing  their  report  of 

all  that   had  occurred,  the  high  priests  assemble  the  Sanhe- 

„    _  drists  to  consider  the  unaccountable   situation. 

§184.  Proced- 
ure of  the      Nothing  could  be  more  natural  than  that  the 

guard  should  tell  their  story  to  them  in  a  simple 
and  straightforward  manner  in  the  soldierly  consciousness  of 
duty  faithfully  performed.  The  Sanhedrists  do  not  challenge 
any  part  of  the  account  rendered  hij  the  soldiers.  So  far  as 
appears,  their  report  was  thoroughly  accepted  and  believed  by 
these  Jewish  rulers.  Indeed,  the  Jewish  officials  could  not,  if 
they  would,  deny  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  gone,  and  noth- 
ing left  to  them  but  the  empty  tomb.  AVith  a  sense  of  terri- 
ble disaster  do  the  Council  apprehend  the  new  situation, 
especially  in  view  of  their  own  past  conduct  in  mocking  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  on  the  cross,   and   the   failure   of   their 


The  Resukeection  of  Jesus  Christ.  243 

precautions  against  all  possible  defeat.  If  the  fact  that  Jesus 
had  actually  risen  should  get  abroad,  no  one  could  predict 
what  results  might  follow  affecting  the  Jewish  theocracy  and 
the  nation.^  Two  distinguished  members  of  the  Sanhedrin 
had  begged  and  buried  his  body ;  the  chief  priests  and  Phari- 
sees had  urgently  solicited  the  guard  to  hold  the  custody  of 
his  tomb  and  enforce  its  security.  The  Jews  and  Romans 
had  combined  to  defeat  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  "lest  his 
disciples  .  .  .  say  unto  the  people,  He  is  risen  from  the 
dead;  so  the  last  error  shall  be  worse  than  the  first."  But 
now  all  these  plans  have  come  to  naught.  The  elders  counsel 
together,  for  something  must  be  done.  There  is  no  possible 
explanation  to  give  the  people  of  what  has  occurred.  In  the 
consciousness  of  the  Sanhedrists,  whatever  else  be  allowed  to 
have  happened,  the  resurrection  of  the  man  of  Nazareth  must 
he  denied  outright  and  at  all  hazards!  If  they  will  not  tell 
the  truth,  they  must  fabricate  the  lie,  and  so  escape  the 
dilemma.  ]^o  other  course  is  open  to  them.  If  his  rising 
from  the  dead  must  be  denied,  they  must  give  out  the  report 
that  his  dead  body  was  stolen  away,  as  they  at  first  antici- 
pated it  might  be.  So  the  Jewish  course  is  resolved  upon. 
"They  gave  large  money  unto  the  soldiers,  saying,  Say  ye, 
His  disciples  came  by  night  and  stole  him  away  while  we 
slept;  and  if  this  come  to  the  governor's  ears,  we  will  per- 
suade him  and  rid  you  of  care.  So  they  took  the  money,  and 
did  as  they  were  taught;  and  this  saying  was  spread  abroad 
among  the  Jews,  and  continueth  until  this  day."  * 

♦About  a  hundred  years  after  the  cruclflxion,  in  his  discussion  with  the  Jew 
Trypho,  Justin  Martyr  says:  "Jesus  expected  you  to  repent  of  your  wickedness 
[in  crucifying  him]  at  least  after  he  rose  from  the  dead,  and  to  mourn  as  did  the 
Ninevites  in  order  that  your  nation  and  city  might  not  be  destroyed;  yet  you 
have  not  repented  after  you  have  learned  that  he  rose  from  the  dead;  but  [in- 
stead] .  .  .  you  sent  men  throughout  all  the  world  to  proclaim  that  a  godless 
and  lawless  heresy  had  sprung  from  one  Jesus,  a  Galilean  deceiver  whom  we  cru- 
cified; but  his  disciples  stole  him  away  from  the  tomb  where  he  was  laid,  un- 
fastened from  the  cross,  and  now  deceiving  men  by  asserting  that  he  has  risen 
from  the  dead  and  ascended  to  heaven."  "When  you  knew  that  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead  and  ascended  into  heaven,  as  the  prophets  had  foretold  that  he 
would,  .  .  .  you  selected  and  sent  out  from  Jerusalem  chosen  men  through  all 
the  land  to  tell  that  the  godless  heresy  of  the  Christians  had  sprung  up,  and  to 
publish  those  things  which  all  they  who  knew  us  not,  speak  against  us.  (Dialogue, 
cviii  and  xvii.)  « Compare  Acts  v,  24,  28,  and  John  xi,  48. 


244         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

But  the  explanation  is  simply  incredible.  It  is  incredible 
that  the  disciples  would  have  stolen  the  dead  body  if  they 
§185  The  story  could;  and  it  is  incredible  that  they  could  have 
Incredible,  stolen  it  if  they  would.  For  how  could  it  pos- 
sibly advantage  the  disciples  that  they  should  violate  the  re- 
pose of  the  dead  and  rob  the  grave  of  its  possession,  since  the 
body  of  Jesus  had  already  received  a  royal  sepulture  in  the 
new  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea?  And  in  the  presence  of 
the  armed  soldiers  on  guard,  how  could  the  disciples  steal  in 
upon  the  watch,  break  the  great  seal,  the  molestation  of  which 
was  death,  roll  away  the  great  stone  successfully,  and  carry 
away  the  dead,  without  detection?  If  the  guard  were  awake, 
they  were  stationed  there  expressly  to  prevent  it;  if  they 
were  asleep,  how  did  they  know  that  the  disciples  had  stolen 
the  body  away?  It  is  incredible  that  the  disciples  who, 
through  fright,  forsook  Jesus  at  Gethsemane  when  he  was  ar- 
rested, leaving  him  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies  and  to  his 
fate,  should  approach  the  sepulcher,  and,  unlike  the  conduct 
of  thieves,  arrange  and  leave  everything  in  order,  putting  the 
linens'  in  one  place  and  the  napkin  of  his  head  in  another,  in- 
stead of  hurrying  away  with  the  body,  as  is  alleged.  It  is 
incredible  that  the  soldiers  all,  and  all  at  once,  had  fallen 
asleep  on  duty,  when  sleeping  on  duty  meant  the  forfeiture  of 
their  lives.  And  especially  it  is  incredible,  because  it  is  su- 
premely preposterous,  for  Jews  or  Romans,  or  both  together, 
to  assert  that  Christ's  disciples  had  come  and  stolen  him  away, 
and  that  they  knew  it  by  this  circumstance:  that  they  were 
themselves  asleep  while  they  witnessed  it!  And  it  is  just  as  ab- 
surd as  it  is  incredible  that  the  Sanhedrists  should  have  felt 
necessitated  to  hribe  the  soldiery  to  tell  the  tr^ith  respecting 
what  they  had  seen.  Unquestionably  money  in  large  sums 
has  been  used  by  corrupt  men  to  suppress  the  truth  and 
falsify ;  but  where  in  history  is  there  a  body  of  men  Avho  had 

'TA6tf6via      .       .      .       ivrvXlffffu,  to  enfold  as  linen  grave-clothes ;  comp.  Ijuk.e 
xxlv,  12;  xxill,  53;  and  John  xl,  44;  xlx,  40. 


The  Resukrkction  of  Jesus  Christ.  245 

to  be  bought  to  affirm  and  put  in  circulation  any  statement 
unless  they  knew  it  to  he  false?  Notably,  those  who  are  capable 
of  bribing  are  capable  of  falsification.  These  corrupt  officials 
who  bribed  Judas  for  treachery,  afterwards  suborned  witnesses 
against  Stephen;  and  in  this  instance  they  both  bribe  the 
soldiers  and  instigate  them  to  perjury.^  The  whole  procedure 
on  the  part  of  the  Sanhedrists  and  soldiers  carries  on  its  face 
the  ingrained  evidence  of  an  undisguised  falsehood  and  fraud, 
as  self-contradictory  as  it  is  self-criminating.  What  wonder 
that  the  story  was  relegated  by  the  thoughtful  to  a  deserved 
infamy,  from  the  earliest  Christian  antiquity!  And  are  we 
asked  to  believe  that  this  was  the  origin  of  Christianity! 
Truly,  as  Beyschlag  has  forcefully  remarked,  "/j5  is  easier  to 
admit  that  the  Christian  Church  is  the  offspring  of  a  miracle 
than  to  imagine  it  to  he  horn  of  a  lie  .^" 

The  mental  attitude  of  Christ's  followers  upon  receiving 
the  first  information  of  his  rising,  was  anything  but  favorable 
to  a  belief   in  his  resurrection.     Obviously  the 

,..,,.-,  .    .  ,  ^    .  8186-  Attitude 

disciples  did  not  anticipate  the  event,  and  its  oc-  of  the 
currence  took  them  completely  by  surprise.  Re-  ^^  ^  ^^' 
peatedly  had  Jesus  predicted  and  emphasized  the  fact  before 
his  crucifixion,  in  order  that  his  followers  might  be  prepared 
for  the  awful  issue  involved  in  the  tragedy  of  redemption,  and 
be  upborne  by  the  hope  of  his  rising  while  he  slept  the  sleep  of 
death ;  but  as  often  did  they  fail  utterly  in  the  great  compre- 
hension. "  For  as  yet  they  knew  not  the  Scriptures,  that  he 
must  rise  again  from  the  dead."  ^  In  absolute  disappointment 
and  despair  they  buried  in  his  sepulcher  all  their  anticipations 
of  his  kingdom  and  of  himself  as  the  coming  ruler  of  Israel. 
Their  sorrow  was  as  simple  as  it  was  sincere  and  pathetic.  It 
is  with  inimitable  simplicity  that  the  Evangelists  relate  how 
Mary  Magdalene,  having  seen  the  Lord  on  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection,  "went  and  told  them  that  she  had  been  with 


8  See  Matt,  xxvl,  15;  xxvll,  3-10;  and  Acts  vl,  11. 
•John  XX,  9;  Luke  xxlv,  27,  45. 


246         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

him;"  but  they  only  "mourned  and  wept,  and  when  they 
heard  that  he  was  alive  and  had  been  seen  of  her,  tliey  believed 
[herl  not."^''  Then,  after  he  had  been  seen  of  the  other 
women,  they  all  went  together  and  "told  these  things  unto 
the  apostles;"  but  '■Hheir  words  seemed  to  them  as  idle  tales^ 
and  they  helieved  thevi  not !  ^^  It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  that 
when  Peter  visited  his  empty  tomb  with  John,  he  "  departed 
to  his  home,  wondering  at  that  which  was  come  to  pass."^^ 
The  two  disciples  of  the  Seventy  who  walked  and  talked  with 
Jesus  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  when  rehearsing  to  him  the  in- 
cidents of  his  own  crucifixion,  added  yet  this : 

"Yea,  and  certain  of  our  women  made  us  astonished  who  were 
early  at  the  sepulcher,  .  .  .  who  said  that  he  was  alive."  "Then 
opened  he  their  understanding  that  they  might  understand  the  Scrip- 
tures." "In  the  breaking  of  bread  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they 
knew  him;  and  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight."  ^^  "And  they  rose  up 
the  same  hour  and  returned  to  Jerusalem  and  found  the  eleven  gath- 
ered together,  and  them  that  were  with  them,  saying.  The  Lord  is  risen 
indeed,  and  hath  appeared  unto  Simon.  And  they  told  what  things 
were  done  in  the  way,  and  how  he  was  known  of  them  in  the  breaking  of 
bread.  And  as  they  thus  spake,  Jesus  himself  stood  in  the  midst  of 
them,  and  saith  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you.  But  they  wei-e  terrified 
and  affrighted,  and  supposed  they  had  seen  a  spirit."  " 

These  disciples  then  told  Thomas  that  they  had  seen  the 
Lord;  but  he  rejected  their  testimony,  refusing  absolutely  to 
believe  in  the  stupendous  occurrence,  demanding  both  ocular 
and  tangible  demonstration  to  the  senses  before  he  would  be- 
lieve. One  week  afterward  the  apostles  were  again  assembled 
together,  when  suddenly  Jesus  "stood  in  the  midst  of  them," 
and  turning  to  Thomas,  in  the  very  language  of  his  challenge 
of  their  faith,  Jesus  said :  "  Thomas,  reach  hither  thy  finger, 
and  see  my  hands ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand  and  put  it  into 
my  side,  and  be  not  faithless  but  believing."  And  Thomas  in 
response  exclaimed,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God ! "  ^^ 

These  facts  are  fatal  to  any  theory  which  ascribes  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  to  a  mere  preoccupancy  of  belief  or  anticipation 

10 Mark  xvl,  10,  11.  "Luke  xxlv,  10, 11.  "/fe.  xxlv,  12. 

"76.  xxlv,  22,  23,  46,  4(5,  31,35.  n  76.  xxiv,  33-37.  '6  John  xx,  24-28. 


The  Resukrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  247 

of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  disciples  ;  for  so  far  from  expecting 
the  event,  they  all  in  common  absolutely  rejected  the  testi- 
mony of  others  when  they  first  affirmed,  that  they  had  again 
seen  him  alive.  Something  revolutionized  their  conviction,  for 
their  sorrow  was  turned  into  indescribable  joy  ^^  and  in  the  face 
of  all  dangers  they  began  at  once  to  publish  outright  that  very 
truth  which  they  had  previously  rejected.  They  lived  and  died 
in  this  faith  ^  and  no  man  living  has  ever  been  willing  to  live 
and  die  for  a  lie,  he  knowing  it  to  be  such. 

II.  The  Narrations  of  Christ's  Resurrection. 

A  visit  was  made  to  the  sepulcher  by  Mary  Magdalene  and 
the  other  Galilean  women  on  Saturday  night,  which  was  "the 
end   of   the    [ Jewish]    Sabbath.""     "And    the 

^  -"  §187.  The  Even- 

women  also  who  came  with  him  from  Galilee      mg  and  the 

followed   after,  and  beheld  the  sepulcher,  and  ornmg. 

how  his  body  was  laid."  ^^  Three  visits  were  made  to  the  sep- 
ulcher on  the  morning  of  "the  first  day  of  the  week:" 
{a)  By  Mary  and  the  other  women  from  Galilee,  who  seem 
not  to  have  been  informed  of  the  special  arrangements  eilected 
between  the  chief  Jews  and  Pilate  relating  to  the  posted 
guard,  and  the  sealed  stone,  and  so  brought  sweet  spices  to 
embalm  the  body  of  Jesus.^^  (b)  After  Mary  had  fled  from 
the  tomb  in  haste  to  report  the  empty  sepulcher  to  Peter  and 
John,  these  two  disciples  ran  together  to  the  sepulcher  to 
learn  about  the  body  which  had  disappeared.^  (<?)  Mary 
Magdalene  followed  Peter  and  John,  and  returned  to  the  tomb 
of  Jesus.^    The  case  was  this : 

1.  Mary  Magdalene,  accompanied  by  the  Galilean  women,^ 
went  to  the  tomb  together  "  at  the  early  dawn,"  ^  on  the  first 

"Matt,  xxvlll,  8;  Luke  xxlv,  41. 

i^'Oi/'^  5^  aa^pdruv,  "at  the  close  of  the  Sabbaths -"i.e.,  Saturday  at  sunset.    Matt, 
xxvlil,  1.    "The  end  of  the  Sabbath  was  at  sunset  the  night  before."    (Alford.) 
18  Luke  xxiil,  55;  xxlv,  1;  Matt,  xxvlli,  1;  Mark  xvl,  1. 
"Comp.  Matt,  xxvlll,  1;  Mark  xvl,  1,  2;  Luke  xxUi,  55;  John  xx,  1. 
so  John  XX,  3,  4.  21/6.  xx,  2-4, 11. 

K  Mark  xvl,  1,  2;  Luke  xxlU,  55;  xxlv,  1, 10.       s^Luke  xxlv,  1,  Rev.  Version. 


248  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

day  of  the  week.  At  the  instant  that  Mary  discovered  the 
body  was  gone,  she  fled  in  dismay  and  distress  to  inform 
Peter  and  John  of  these  facts. 

"  She  runneth  and  cometh  to  Simon  Peter  and  the  other  disciple, 
whom  Jesus  loved,  and  saith  unto  them.  They  have  taken  away  the 
Lord  out  of  the  sepulcher,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid 
him !"  2< 

2.  Thereupon  both  Peter  and  John  ran  together  to  the 
tomb,  leaving  Mary  to  follow  them  more  leisurely.  John  ar- 
rives first  and  looks  into  the  sepulcher ;  Peter  follows  closely 
after  and  enters  into  the  tomb. 

"So  they  ran  both  together,  and  the  other  disciple  did  outrun 
Peter  and  came  first  to  the  sepulcher,  and  stooping  down  saw  the  linen 
clothes  lying,  yet  went  he  not  in.  Then  came  Simon  Peter  following 
him,  and  went  into  the  sepulcher,  and  seeth  the  linen  clothes  lie,  and 
the  napkin  that  was  about  his  head."  John  "saw  and  believed;" 
Peter  "  departed  wondering  in  himself  at  that  which  had  come  to  pass." 
"Then  the  disciples  went  away  again  to  their  own  home."^ 

3.  During  the  Magdalene's  absence  from  the  tomb  to  tell 
these  two  apostles  of  the  body  that  was  missing,  an  angel  ap- 
pears to  the  other  women  who  remained  at  the  sepulcher,  and 
informed  them  that  Jesus  had  risen.  The  angel  sends  a  mes- 
sage in  haste  by  them  to  the  disciples  that  they  should  meet 
Jesus  in  Galilee  as  he  had  foretold  them.  On  their  way  with 
this  message,  Jesus  met  the  women. 

"  They  departed  from  the  tomb  with  fear  and  great  joy,  and  ran  to 
bring  the  disciples  word.  And  as  they  went  to  tell  his  disciples,  behold, 
Jesus  met  them  saying,  All  hail  1  And  they  came  and  held  him  by  the 
feet  and  worshiped  him.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  Be  not  afraid ;  go 
and  tell  my  brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee,  and  there  shall  they  see 
me."  "  And  go  quickly  and  tell  his  disciples  he  is  risen  from  the 
dead."  ^ 

Meantime,  as  the  other  women  were  about  leaving  the 
tomb  in  haste,  Mary  returned  alone,  following  Peter  and  John, 
standing  outside  the  sepulcher  weeping.  She  looks  into  the 
tomb  and  sees  two  angels. 

MJohnxx,  2.        88  76.  XX,  3-8, 10;  Luke  xxlv,  12.        2«  Matt,  xxvlli,  7-10. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  249 

"And  as  she  wept  she  stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sepulcher, 
and  seeth  two  angels  sitting  the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the 
feet  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain.  .  .  .  She  saith  unto  them: 
Because  they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they 
have  laid  him.  And  when  she  had  thus  said,  she  turned  herself  back  and 
saw  Jesus  standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.  .  .  .  She,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  the  gardener,  saith  unto  him.  Sir,  if  thou  hast  borne 
him  hence  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and  1  will  take  him  away. 
Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary  !  She  turneth  herself,  and  saith  unto  him, 
Rabboni,*  which  is  to  say.  Master.  Mary  Magdalene  came  and  told 
the  disciples  that  she  had  seen  the  Lord,  and  that  he  had  spoken 
these  things  unto  her."^ 


a)  The  Evangelists'  Accounts  Individually. 

1.  Matthew  mentions  only  two  appearances  of  Christ  after  his  rising: 
(1)  To  the  women  when  on  the  way  bearing  the  angel's 

message  to  the  apostles,  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrec-      Nmnber  of 
tion;^  and  (2)  To  the  eleven  disciples  on  a  mountain  in  Appearances. 
Galilee.2« 

2.  Mark  mentions  three  appearances:  (1)  To  Mary  Magdalene  alone 
at  the  sepulcher ;  ^  (2)  To  Cleopas  and  another  disciple  on  the  way  to 
and  at  Emmaus  \^^  (3)  To  the  ten  disciples  at  Jerusalem  on  that  night, 
Thomas  being  absent.^ 

3.  Luke  mentions /oMr  appearances:  (1)  To  the  two  of  the  seventy 
disciples  at  Emmaus  ;  ^  (2)  To  Simon  Peter  alone — the  fact  but  not  the 
circumstances  named;**  (3)  To  the  ten  apostles  on  the  first  night  at 
Jerusalem ;  ^  (4)  To  the  eleven  disciples  who  received  their  commis- 
sion, where  Jesus  ascended  into  heaven.^ 

4.  John  mentions /owr  appearances:  (1)  To  Mary  Magdalene  alone 
as  already  described  ;^^  (2)  To  the  ten  apostles  at  Jerusalem,  Thomas 
being  absent;^  (3)  To  the  eleven  together  one  week  later,  Thomas  be- 
ing present  ;^  (4)  To  the  seven  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  in  Galilee.^" 


"^  There  were  three  titles  of  distinction  given  to  the  Jewish  teachers,  repre- 
senting three  different  degrees:  viz.,  i?a6(3"i)  =  " Master;"  Rabbi  ("'3T)  =  "My 
Master;"  and  Rabboni  ('3'131,  Greek, 'Pa/S/Sopf,  or 'Po^/Souvf,  but  sometimes  iJaft- 
6an13"n)=:"My  great  Master."  It  Is  not  certain  whether  the /?rst  was  In  use  In 
Christ's  time. 

"John  XX,  11-16, 18.       ««  Matt,  xxvlli,  8-10.       s»i&.  xxvili,  10, 16.      »oMark  xvi,9. 

n  Mark  xvl,  12, 13;  Luke  xxiv,  13-18,  30,  31.  a* Mark  xvl,  14. 

"Luke  xxiv,  13,  31.  »*/6.  xxiv,  34;  1  Cor.  xv,  5. 

K  76.  xxiv,  33,  36-48.  «  /;,.  xxiv,  47, 49, 50-53.  "  John  xx,  11-17 

»/6.  XX,  19-24.  «9/6.  XX,  26-29.  « 76.  xxl,  1-14. 


250         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

To  these  instances  cited  by  the  evangelists  severally  may 
be  added  those  of  the  Apostle  Paul : 

5.  Paul  mentions  six  appearances ;  (1)  To  Cephas,  otherwise  called 
Simon  Peter  ;^^  (2)  To  James  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  apart  from  the 
apostles  ;  (3)  To  those  disciples  formerly  designated  "  the  Twelve  ;"  (4) 
To  the  five  hundred  at  once  in  the  mountains  of  Galilee;  (5)  To  "all 
the  apostles  "  together,  probably  at  Jerusalem  ;  (6)  "And  last  of  all "  to 
Paul  also  as  "  one  born  out  of  due  time."  ^ 

/3)  The  Several  Christophanies  Arranged. 
The  actual  number  of  Christ's  reappearances  after  his  res- 
urrection, and  the  order  of  their  occurrence,  are  unknown. 
The  sacred  writers  do  not  profess  to  have  re- 

8189.  Arrange-  ^ 

ment  of  the  corded  all  his  reappearances,  or  their  regularity, 
christophames.  -^^  have,  Consequently,  no  data  for  determining 
these  questions  with  certainty;  but  allowing  time  sufficient 
for  the  apostles  to  travel  to  Galilee  where  Jesus  had  promised 
to  meet  them,  and  then  return  to  Jerusalem,  they  were 
probably  in  full  fellowship  with  him  during  the  forty  days 
intervening  his  resurrection  and  his  ascension:  ^^ being  seen  of 
thern  forty  days.'''"^  If  seen  of  them  forty  days,  he  must  have 
been  seen  of  them  forty  times  at  least, 

7)  The  Ten  Eeappearances  op  Christ. 
First  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"He  appeared  first  to  Mary  Magdalene"^  when  she  came 
the  second  time  to  the  sepulcher  on  the  morning  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  and  stood  weeping  outside  the  tomb.  Jesus 
saith  unto  her,  Mary !  She  responded,  Eabboni !  "  Mary  Mag- 
dalene cometh  and  telleth  the  disciples,  I  have  seen  the  Lord, 
and  how  he  had  said  these  things  unto  her."  ^ 

Second  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  women  from  Galilee  bring  spices  to  the  sepulcher, 
finding  the  stone  rolled  away,  "  enter  into  the  tomb  and  found 
not  the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  ^ 

«  Luke  xxlv,  34 ;  1  Cor.  xv,  5.  « 1  Cor.  xv,  6-8.  «  Acts  1,  3. 

« Mark  xvi,  9.  *^  John  xx,  11-18.       «  Luke  xxlv,  1-8. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  251 

But  they  saw  "two  men  in  dazzling  apparel"  and  "were  afraid." 
"  They  said  to  the  women,  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the  dead?  He 
is  not  here  but  risen.  Remember  how  he  spake  unto  you  when  he  was 
yet  in  Galilee,  saying  that  the  Son  of  man  must  be  delivered  up  into 
the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and  be  crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again ; 
and  they  remembered  his  words." *^  "Then  the  angel  saith  unto  them, 
Go  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter  that  he  goeth  before  them  into  Galilee ; 
there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you.  And  they  went  out  and 
fled  from  the  tomb."*^  "And  they  departed  quickly  from  the  tomb 
with  fear  and  great  joy,  and  ran  to  bring  the  disciples  word."^^  "  For 
trembling  and  astonishment  had  come  upon  them ;  and  they  said  noth- 
ing to  any  one,  for  they  were  afraid."*"  "Now  they  were  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, and  Joanna,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James,  and  the  other 
women  [from  Galilee]  with  them,  and  told  these  things  unto  the  apos- 
tles." "  "And  behold  Jesus  met  them  saying.  All  hail !  And  they  came 
and  took  hold  of  his  feet  and  worshiped  him.  Then  saith  Jesus  unto 
them.  Fear  not;  go  tell  my  brethren  that  they  depart  into  Galilee,  and 
there  shall  they  see  me."  ^^ 

Third  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  third  appearance  of  the  risen  Jesus  was  to  Simon  Peter. 
The  sacred  writer  gives  no  circumstantial  account  of  it.  But 
the  angel  sent  a  message  to  him  specially  by  the  women;  and 
the  fact  that  Peter  did  see  Jesus  alive  again  is  duly  recorded 
as  having  occurred  on  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  and  told  by 
the  eleven  and  those  with  them  to  the  two  disciples  of  the 
Seventy  upon  their  return  to  Jerusalem  from  Emmaus,  and 
also  by  Paul. 

The  angel  "saith  unto  them  [the  women],  ...  Go  your  way; 
tell  his  disciples  and  Peter  that  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee ; 
there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you."^  "And  they  rose  up  that 
same  hour  and  returned  [from  Emmaus]  to  Jerusalem,  and  found  the 
eleven  gathered  together,  and  them  that  were  with  them  saying, 
The  Lord  is  risen  indeed  and  hath  appeared  to  Simon."**  "He  rose 
from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  .  .  . 
and  was  seen  of  Cephas**  [Peter],  then  of  the  twelve."* 

*It  should  be  noticed  that  "the  Twelve,"  without  Judas,  particularizes  not 
the  specific  number,  but  that  particular  class  of  disciples,  as  that  class,  in  distinc- 
tion from  "the  Seventy;"  i.  e.,  meaning  those  disciples  who  had  formerly  con- 
stituted and  passed  under  the  appellation  of  "the  Twelve."  Comp.  Matt,  x,  2-5, 
and  Luke  x,  1, 17;  xxiv,  33. 

«  Luke  xxiv,  4-9.  «  Mark  xvi,  7,  8.  «  Matt,  xxviii,  8. 

60  Mark  xvi,  8.  6i  Luke  xxiv,  1-10.  ^  Matt,  xxviii,  9, 10. 

63 Mark  xiv,  28;  xvi,  7.         "Luke  xxiv,  33,  34;  1  Cor.  xv,  5. 

55lCor.  XV,  4,  6. 


252         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 
Fourth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  the  day  that  Jesus  rose,  two  of  the  seventy  disciples 
went  to  the  village  called  Emmaus,  which  was  "threescore 
furlongs"  distant  from  Jerusalem,  or  about  seven  and  a  half 
miles.  One  of  the  two  is  named  Cleopas,  and  "another  dis- 
ciple" tradition  mentions  as  being  Luke,  as  no  one  but  one  of 
the  party  could  have  furnished  so  sharp  and  circumstantial  an 
account  as  that  which  he  narrates  of  what  happened  in  the 
course  of  its  movements.^  Jesus,  unrecognized,  joins  their 
company,  and  they  rehearse  the  sad  particulars  of  his  own 
crucifixion,  and  the  morning  rumor  that  Jesus  had  risen  from 
the  dead,  and  they  say : 

"Certain  women  of  our  company  amazed  us,  having  been  early  at 
the  tomb,  and  when  they  found  not  his  body,  they  came  saying  that  they 
had  seen  a  vision  of  angels  who  said  that  he  was  alive.  And  certain  of 
them  that  were  with  us  went  to  the  tomb  and  found  it  even  as  the 
women  had  said;  but  him  they  saw  not."  "And  it  came  to  pass  when 
he  had  sat  down  with  them  he  took  bread  and  blessed,  and,  breaking  it, 
he  gave  it  to  them ;  and  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  knew  him ; 
and  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight." ^'^ 

Fifth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  these  two  disciples,  having 
returned  to  Jerusalem,  found  the  ten  apostles  together, 
Thomas  being  absent ;  and  they  reported  unto  the  apostles  the 
occurrences  of  the  day  on  their  journey,  and  were  told  that 
Peter  also  had  seen  the  risen  Jesus.*     They  were  informed : 

"The  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  hath  appeared  unto  Simon.  And 
they  told  what  things  were  done  in  the  way,  and  how  he  was  known  of 
them  in  the  breaking  of  bread."  *^  So  "  they  went  and  told  it  unto  the 
residue,  neither  believed  they  them."*^    "And  as  they  thus  spake  Jesus 

*The  first  individual  to  whom  the  risen  Christ  appeared  wns  Mary  Magda- 
lene (Mark  xvi,  9);  the  first  of  ''the  twelve  disciples^'  was  Simon  Peter  (Luke 
xxiv,  33,  34;  1  Oor.  xv,  6);thG  tivstot  the  ten  disciples  collectively  v/iiti  on  thi',  first  night 
at  Jerusalem,  Thomas  lieing  absent  (Luke  xxiv,  33,  34;  John  xx,  19,  20,  24) ;  the  first 
time  to  the  seventy  disciples  was  to  the  two  journeying  to  Emmaus  (Luke  xxiv, 
13,  18).  His  last  appearance  was  at  the  ascension  (Luke  xxiv,  50,  61;  Mark  xvl,  19). 
Besides,  he  was  seen  thrice  afterwards  in  heaven:  once  by  John  (Rev.i,  1-8, 18); 
once  by  Stephen  (Acts  vli,  56,  59);  and  once  by  Paul  (Acts  Ix,  1-9;  xxii,  xxvl; 
ICor.  xv,8;Gal.l,  11,  12). 

66  Luke  xxiv,  i;5-3.").  67  Luke  xxiv,  22-24,  80,  81 ;  comp.  Mark  xvl,  12, 13. 

58  Luke  xxiv,  34,  »5;  1  Cor.  xv,  6.  6»Mark  xvi,  12, 13. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  253 

himself  stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  Peace  be  unto 
you.  But  they  were  terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they 
had  seen  a  spii'it.  And  he  said  unto  them,  "Why  are  ye  troubled, 
and  why  do  thoughts  ["troubles"]  arise  in  your  hearts?  Behold  my 
hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself ;  handle  me  and  see ;  for  a  spirit 
hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have.  And  when  he  had  thus 
spoken  unto  them,  he  showed  unto  them  his  hands  and  his  feet,"  ^^ 
"and  his  side.     Then  were  the  disciples  glad  when  they  saw  the  Lord."  ^^ 

This  was  the  same  time  when  Jesus  "appeared  unto  the 

eleven  as  they  sat  at  meat,  and  upbraided  them  with  their 

unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart,  because  they  believed  not 

them  who  had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen."  ^    After  this  they 

said  to  Thomas,  "We  have  seen  the  Lord!"^    But  Thomas 

refused  their  testimony.^ 

Sixth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  was  just  one  week  later,  according  to  the  Jewish 
method  of  reckoning  which  was  inclusive  of  the  two  appear- 
ances, when  Jesus  appeared  to  the  disciples  again.  Turning 
to  that  disciple,  the  Lord  employs  the  very  language  which 
he  had  employed  as  his  demand  before  he  would  believe 
Christ  risen  when  he  challenged  the  testimony  of  his  fellow- 
disciples.     Jesus  said : 

"  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my  hands ;  and  reach  hither 
thy  hand  and  put  into  my  side,  and  be  not  faithless  but  believing. 
Thomas  answered  and  said  unto  him.  My  Lord  and  my  God  !  Jesus  saith 
unto  him.  Because  thou  hast  seen  me,  thou  hast  believed ;  blessed  are 
they  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed."^ 

Seventh  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Just  before  his  passion  the  Lord  foretold  to  his  disciples 
how  that  very  night  they  would  be  scattered  like  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd,  adding,  "  But  after  I  am  raised  up,  I  will  go 
before  you  into  Galilee."*^  The  angel  at  the  tomb  reminded 
them  of  this  statement  of  the  Master : 

"He  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee;  there  shall  ye  see  him  as  he 
said  unto  you."*^  "And  they  remembered  his  words." ^'  "Then  the 
eleven  disciples  went  away  into  Galilee,  into  a  mountain  where  Jesus 

««  Luke  xxiv,  36-40.  6i  John  xx,  20.  62  Mark  xvl,  14. 

63  John  XX,  24,  25.  «<  John  xx,  24,  25.  65  John  xx,  26-29. 

«6  Matt,  xxvl,  32.  67  Mark  xvi,  7.  68  Luke  xxlv,  6,  8. 


254         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

had  appointed  them ;  and  when  they  saw  him,  they  worshiped  him."  ^' 
"After  these  things  Jesus  showed  himself  again  to  the  disciples  at  the 
sea  of  Tiberias.  There  were  together  Simon  Peter,  and  Thomas  called 
Didymus,  and  Nathanaelof  Cana  in  Galilee,  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee 
[James  and  John],  and  two  other  of  his  disciples."™ 

At  the  suggestion  of  Peter,  the  disciples  had  gone  a-fishing, 
their  old  avocation ;  and  early  in  the  morning  Jesus  appeared 
again  to  them  on  the  beach,  and  directed  them  where  to  cast 
in  the  net  to  be  successful.  John  was  the  first  to  exclaim : 
"It  is  the  Lord."  They  all  go  ashore.  They  were  all  invited 
to  come  and  partake  of  the  morning  meal  which  Jesus  had 
prepared  for  them. 

"  This  is  now  the  third  time  that  Jesus  showed  himself  to  his  dis- 
ciples [collectively]  after  that  he  was  risen  from  the  dead."  " 

Eighth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  only  record  we  have  in  the  New  Testament  of  the 
eighth  appearance  of  Jesus  after  his  resurrection  is  that 
made  by  the  Apostle  Paul :  "  After  that  he  was  seen  of  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater  part  re- 
main until  now ;  but  some  have  fallen  asleep."  ^ 

Ninth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

To  "  James,  the  Lord's  brother,"  Jesus  appeared  alive  after 
his  death ;  but  nothing  is  known  from  the  record  beyond  the 
fact.  Probably  he  appeared  to  James  when  he  was  alone,  as 
he  seems  to  have  done  to  Peter.  This  James  apparently  was 
not  one  of  the  original  twelve  disciples,  and  is  not  named  in 
the  first  list  of  the  apostles.'"  It  is  possible  that  in  the  early 
part  of  Christ's  ministry  he  was  one  of  those  "  friends  "  who 
are  mentioned  as  suspicious  that  Jesus  was  "beside  himself"*^ 
just  when  he  was  most  intently  engaging  in  his  Messianic 
work.  Some  decisive  occasion  must  have  occurred  which 
wrought  in  James  the  conviction  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ  of 
God ;  for  subsequently  to  the  resurrection  we  find  James  iden- 

•»  Matt.  xxvUl,  16,  17.  ■">  John  xxl,  1,2.  "  //,.  xxl,  14. 

« 1  Cor.  XV,  6.  "  Matt,  x,  2-5.  '<  Mark  ill,  20,  21. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  255 

tified  with  the  other  apostles  by  common  recognition.  Euse- 
bius,  the  first  Church  historian  whose  work  has  come  down  to 
us,  mentions  the  pre-eminence  which  he  attained  among  the 
early  Christians  in  that  he  was  known  as  "  James  the  Just,^'  ''^ 
who  became  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  presided  over  the 
Council  of  the  Church  in  that  city,  and  also  wrote  the  epistle 
which  bears  that  name.  Josephus  relates  that  the  Sanhedrin 
condemned  the  "brother  of  Jesus  who  was  called  Christ, 
whose  name  was  James,  and  some  others,  companions,"  '*^  to  be 
stoned,  and  Eusebius  particularizes  how  the  sentence  was  exe- 
cuted. Paul  mentions  a  special  visit  which  he  made  to  Jeru- 
salem early  in  his  own  ministry,  in  which  he  spent  fifteen  days 
with  Peter,  and  says,  "  But  other  of  the  apostles  saw  I  none, 
save  James,  the  Lord's  brother;"  that  "James  and  Cephas  and 
John  were  reputed  to  be  pillars  "  ^  of  the  Church,  all  of  whom 
gave  him  the  right  hand  in  recognition  of  his  legitimate  Chris- 
tian apostleship.  Paul,  accordingly,  is  careful  to  note  James 
in  his  relation  to  Christ's  resurrection,  and  says:  "After  that 
he  ^vas  seen  of  James,  then  of  all  the  apostles."  ^ 

Tenth  Reappearance  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Presumably,  all  the  apostles  were  present  together  to  re- 
ceive from  Jesus  their  great  commission  of  the  apostolate, 
after  which  the  Lord  led  them  out  to  the  Mount  of  the  Ascen- 
sion. Of  Christ's  appearance  on  this  occasion  Luke  distinctly 
afiirms : 

"  Concerning  all  that  Jesus  began,  both  to  do  and  to  teach,  until  the 
day  in  which  he  was  received  up,  after  that  he  had  given  commandment 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  apostles  whom  he  had  chosen,  to  whom 
he  showed  himself  alive  after  his  passion  by  many  [infallible]  proofs,  ap- 
pearing unto  them  by  the  space  of  forty  days,  and  speaking  the  things 
concerning  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and  being  assembled  together  with 
them,  he  charged  that  they  should  not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait 
for  the  promise  of  the  Father.  .  .  .  And  when  he  had  spoken  these 
things,  while  they  beheld  he  was  taken  up,  and  a  cloud  received  him  out 
of  their  sight."  ^^ 

i^Eccl.  Hist.  B  11,  cc.  1,23;  Iv,  c.  5;  vll,  c.  19.  '«^n^xx,  c.  9,  $  1. 

"  Gal.  1,  18,  19;  11,  9;  Acts  xv,  13,  et  seq.  78  i  Cor.  xv,  7. 

'•Acts  1, 1-4,9-11;  cornp.  Luke  xxlv,  50-52;  Mark  xvl,  19. 
17 


256  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Thus  far  goes  the  record  of  the  New  Testament  touching 
the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Obviously  these 
ten  appearances  alive  after  his  death  are  not  exhaustive  in  that 
"he  was  seen  of  them  for  forty  days."  Nor  perhaps  is  this 
the  strict  order  of  his  reappearances.  All  that  is  claimed  for 
this  scheme  is  that  it  seems  to  be  the  correct  one  according  to 
the  scanty  data  given  in  these  Scriptures,  as  the  sacred  writers 
were  not  careful  to  note  the  number  or  order  of  his  appear- 
ances. To  know  them  thus  certainly  would  gratify  our  curi- 
osity, but  would  subserve  no  important  interest  of  the  truth. 
The  fact  itself,  however,  is  evidently  secure. 

5)  The  Difficulties  of  the  Narratives. 

A  revelation  of  the  resurrection  of  a  dead  Redeemer,  given 

by  angels  from  heaven,  is  something  altogether  unique  in  itself. 

§  190.  Tiie      Many  of   the    supposed    discrepancies    in    the 

Unique  Story,  accounts  of  the  Evangelists  are  due  to  our  own 
misapprehension  of  the  facts  related.  A  close  and  careful  fol- 
lowing of  the  several  texts  of  these  writers  taken  in  their 
natural  sense,  without  preconceptions  or  forced  and  arbitrary 
suppositions,  will  leave  the  account  with  but  little  or  no  em- 
barrassment to  the  understanding. 

That  there  are  seeming  discrepancies  in  the  several  accounts 
of  the  Evangelists  touching  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  at  least 
§  191,  Apparent  conclusive  of  the  fact  that  there  was  certainly  no 

Discrepancies.  coUusion  between  the  writers  to  fabricate  the 
statement  given.  Those  shrewd  enough  to  devise  a  fictitious 
scheme  on  such  a  subject  would  obviously  be  entirely  too 
clever  to  embarrass  it  with  discrepant  details.  For  how  could 
designing  men  leave  their  writings  in  such  bad  form  as  appar- 
ently to  contradict  each  other  on  the  cardinal  point  of  their 
fictitious  Gospel  ?  Besides,  the  contemporaries  of  these  writers 
and  their  successors,  for  whose  special  advantage  they  wrote, 
had  no  difficulty  at  all  in  understanding  the  whole  story  of  the 
Gospel  just  as  it  is  told,  with  all  its  omissions  and  gaps,  not- 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  257 

withstanding  the  want  of  order  in  the  chronology  of  the  facts 
stated;  and  they  have  transmitted  to  us  these  writings  with- 
out any  attempt  to  explain  or  correct  any  misstatements 
whatever.  The  accounts  of  the  resurrection,  therefore,  come 
to  us,  not  only  uncontradicted  in  this  respect,  but  bearing  upon 
their  face  the  sanction  and  sanctity  of  the  highest  Christian 
antiquity.  Notwithstanding  that  each  writer  wrote  independ- 
ently of  the  others,  and  at  a  remote  distance ;  that  each  one 
had  his  own  specific  object  in  view  in  writing  a  Gospel ;  that 
every  one  neglected  to  state  full  details,  so  that  occasionally 
the  data  are  somewhat  scant ;  yet  all  this  does  not  vitiate  the 
validity  of  their  statement  in  the  least,  or  militate  against  the 
truth  of  the  account  narrated. 

Especially  in  the  case  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  there  is  a 
profound  underlying  unity  in  the  story  itself  as  given  in  the 
several   Gospels;    a  unity  which  would  not  be 
ignored  in  a  court  of  trial  where  different  wit-    unity  of  the 
nesses  testify,  each  one  communicating  substan-  ^^' 

tial  t/ruth,  with  circumstantial  variety  of  statement.  Of  course, 
documentary  evidence  is  the  silent  testimony  of  the  witnesses 
who  have  long  been  dead,  and  we  are  without  the  opportuni- 
ties to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  narratives  given.  But  this  is  the 
necessary  characteristic  of  all  documentary  evidence  of  long 
standing.  It  is  none  the  less  historical  on  that  account. 
Nevertheless,  if  we  have  in  any  given  case  insufficient  evi- 
dence to  form  a  proper  judgment,  our  ignorance  for  the  want 
of  information  justifies  us  in  forming  no  judgment  against  the 
case ;  much  less  are  Ave  entitled  to  attribute  our  own  mistakes 
to  the  authors,  and.  then  reject  the  account  altogether.  Gries- 
bach  in  his  Proltision  says : 

"It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Evangelists  seem  to  have  dwelt 
on  those  particular  points  in  which  they  were  personally  concerned. 
This  appears  to  furnish  a  vei'y  simple  key  to  their  apparent  discrep- 
ancies. John  who  received  his  first  intelligence  from  Mary  Magdalene 
makes  her  the  principal  person  in  his  narrative ;  while  Matthew,  who, 
with  the  rest  of  the  disciples,  derived  his  information  from  the  other 


258  IIlSTOEICAL  EviDEISrCE  OF  THE  NeW  TeSTAJHENT. 

women,  gives  their  relation  [of  the  resurrection],  and  omits  the  appear- 
ance of  Jesus  to  Magdalene.  St.  Mark  gives  a  few  additional  minute 
particulars.  But  the  narrative  of  St.  Luke  is  altogether  more  vague  and 
general.  He  blends  together,  as  a  later  historian  studious  of  compres- 
sion, the  two  separate  transactions ;  he  ascribes  to  the  women  collect- 
ively that  communication  of  the  intelligence  to  the  assembled  body  of 
the  apostles  which  appears  to  have  been  made  separately  to  distinct  par- 
ties, and,  disregarding  the  order  of  time,  he  after  that  reverts  to  the 
visit  of  St.  Peter  to  the  sepulcher."  *" 

It  is  proposed  now  to  examine  the  several  narratives  to  as- 
certain whether  they  are  really  discrepant,  or  whether  they 
convey  substantial  agreement  and  truth.  All  the  main  diffi- 
culties touching  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  may  be  reduced  to 
five  in  number,  namely : 

a)  Differences  supposed  respecting  the  angels  seen  at  Christ's  tomb. 
/3)  Differences  as  to  Mary's  report  before  or  after  seeing  the  angels. 
7)  Differences  in  time  when  the  women  visited  the  sepulcher  together. 
S)  Differences  in  the  conduct  of  the  women  when  leaving  Christ's  tomb, 
e)  Differences  as  to  the  places  where  Jesus  appeared  to  his  disciples. 

e)  These  Differences  Eeoonciled. 
A.  Matthew  and  Mark,  upon  the  one  hand,  affirm  that 
there  was  one  angel  at  the  tomb  of  Jesus,  but  Luke  and  John 
mention  two  angels.  The  Evangelists  enumerate  the  angels  as 
one  and  two,  as  they  appeared  to  different  persons,  at  different 
times,  outside  or  inside  the  empty  sepulcher.  The  exercise  of 
a  judicious  judgment  is  therefore  called  for  respecting  these 
circumstances  in  their  proper  relations,  when  the  case  will  be 
found  to  be  relieved  of  all  discrepancy,  without  the  least  resort 
to  arbitrary  assumptions.* 

*  As  illustrative  of  the  fact  thnt  from  Insufflclent  data  seeming  discrepancies 
do  often  arise,  Ebrard  in  his  Gospel  History,  pp.  69,  (50,  relates  the  following  occur- 
rences which  happened  In  his  own  experience: 

"  A  messenger  named  N.  was  sent  from  Zurich  to  Pfafflkon  on  the  occasion 
of  an  outbreak  [of  a  mob]  in  the  latter  place.  Accordingly,  Ebrard  was  Informed 
by  a  trustworthy  person  that  N.  was  sent  later  in  the  evening  with  a  letter  to 
Pfafflkon.  Another  told  him  that  N.  was  sent  in  the  evening  to  Pfafflkon,  but 
that,  after  going  a  short  distance,  he  returned  with  the  report  that  the  alarm-bell 
had  already  rung  at  Pfafflkon.  A  third  [party]  related  that  two  messengers  had 
been  sent  on  horseback  to  Pfafflkon;  and  a  fourth  [party]  said  that  N.  had  sent 
two  men  on  horseback  to  Pfafflkon.  These  seeming  dlscreiiancies  vanished  when 
Ebrard  afterward  learned  from  N.  himself  that  he  had  indeed  been  sent,  but  met 
on  the  way  two  messengers  from  Pfafflkon,  who  reported  the  outbreak  of  the  riot; 
that  he  turned  back  with  them  to  Zurich,  where  he  immediately  procured  horses 
for  them,  and  sent  them  back  to  quiet  the  people  of  Pfafflkon.  Thus  we  see  that, 
once  in  possession  of  the  thread  of  the  narrative,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  arrange 
upon  seemingly  refractory  and  incompatible  circumstances." 

soMilman's  History  of  Christianity,  Vol.  I,  356,  note. 


The  Rksurrectiox  of  Jksus  Cukist.  259 

Matthew  describes  one  angel  as  at  first  seen  by  the  women 
when  they  were  approaching  the  sepulcher.  The  angel  is 
represented  as  then  being  outside  the  tomb: 

"  For  the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven  and  came  and 
rolled  back  the  stone  and  sat  upon  it."  "  And  the  angel  .  .  .  said 
unto  the  women,     .     .     .     Come  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay."  ®^ 

Upon  the  other  hand,  Mark  says  that — 

"Very  early  in  the  morning,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  they  [the 
women]  came  to  the  sepulcher  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  .  .  .  and 
entering  into  the  sepulcher,  they  saw  a  young  man  sitting  on  the  right 
side."  *^ 

The  first  Gospel  mentions  an  angel  outside  the  tomb,  con- 
spicuously seated  upon  the  great  stone  which  had  been  rolled 
away  from  the  entrance;  and  the  second  Gospel  represents 
another  angel  inside  the  tomb,  "sitting  on  the  right  side"  of 
the  sepulcher.  Matthew  describes  the  first  as  "the  angel  of 
the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  away 
the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it;"  Mark  describes  the  one  inside  the 
sepulcher  as  "a  young  man"  "clothed  in  a  long  white  gar- 
ment." But  now  Luke  describes  the  angels  as  in  the  form  of 
"two  men"  in  shining  garments  within  the  deserted  tomb, 
and,  when  seen,  were  standing  beside  the  women: 

"And  they  [the  women]  entered  in,  and  found  not  the  body  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  ;  and  .  .  .  behold,  two  men  ptood  by  them  in  shining  gar- 
ments."*^ John  also  speaks  of  "two  angels  in  white,  sitting  the  one  at 
the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had 
lain."  8* 

Now,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  no  Evangelist,  more  than 
other  witnesses  in  court,  undertakes  to  include  all  the  details 
of  any  event  in  his  own  narration.  It  is  natural  that  each 
witness  should  testify  first  of  that  which  impressed  him  most. 
This  clears  the  way  for  the  consideration  of  the  seeming  con- 
flict between  the  first  two  and  the  last  two  Gospels,  respecting 
(a)  the  number  of  the  angels  at  the  sepulcher,  whether  one  or 
two;  and  (b)  the  posture  of  the  angels  when  seen,  whether 
standing  or  sitting. 

8iMatt.xxvlli,2,i),6.      82 Mark  xlv,  1,2,5.       83Lukexxiv,2-4.      84  John xx,  11,12. 


260         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a)  First  of  all  we  are  indebted  to  John  for  discriminating 
the  different  procedures  in  the  company  of  women.  He  draws 
the  distinction  between  what  Mary  Magdalene  did  and  saw 
apart  from  what  the  other  women  of  Galilee  did  and  saw.^ 
They  all  came  from  the  city  to  the  sepulcher  together,  bring- 
ing sweet  spices ;  and  all  alike  were  surprised  to  lind  the  great 
stone  rolled  away,  and  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  missing. 
But  at  this  point  the  road  of  the  women  parted.  Mary,  with- 
out having  seen  an  angel,  ran  in  great  haste  and  reported  to 
Peter  and  John  the  opened  grave  and  missing  body ;  but  the 
other  women  remaining  saw  "the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended 
from  heaven,"  who  had  "rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door, 
and  sat  upon  it."^  "And  entering  into  the  sepulcher  they 
saw  [another]  young  man  sitting  on  the  right  side,  clothed  in 
a  long  white  garment."^''  Thus  there  were  two  angels  pres- 
ent ;  one  that  sat  on  the  great  stone  outside  the  sepulcher,  and 
the  other  that  sat  "on  the  right  side"  within  the  sepulcher. 
Luke,  however,  does  not  particularize  in  the  same  manner; 
but  he  mentions  that  the  women  from  Galilee  "  entered  into 
[the  sepulcher]  and  found  not  the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus," 
but  that  "two  men  stood  by  them  in  shining  garments."® 
John  omits  altogether  what  the  Synoptists  say  about  the 
other  women,  and  narrates  what  the  Synoptists  neglected  to 
relate  about  Mary  Magdalene ;  that  she,  having  reported  the 
empty  tomb  to  Peter  and  John,  returned  to  the  sepulcher, 
and,  standing  outside,  "stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sep- 
ulcher, and  seeth  two  angels  in  white,  sitting  the  one  at  the 
head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had 
lain."®  Thus  the  difficulty  as  to  the  number  of  angels  has 
vanished. 

/3)  The  posture  of  the  angels  as  seen  at  the  sepulcher  is  the 
remaining  difficulty  of  the  case.  Matthew  represents  an  angel 
as  having  a   countenance   "like  lightning,  and  his  raiment 

85  Matt,  xxvlii,  1;  Mark  xvl,  1-3;  Luke  xxlU,  55;  xxlv,  1,  2;  John  xx,  1. 

MMatt.  xxvlli,  2,  3,  5.     «' Mark  xvl,  5.         88  Luke  xxlv,  3,  4.         89  John  xx,  11, 12. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  261 

white  as  snow,"  seated  outside  the  tomb  on  a  great  stone. 
Mark  represents  an  angel  as  sitting  inside  the  sepulcher, 
"clothed  in  a  long  white  garment."  Luke  represents  that 
"two  men  5toc><i"  by  the  women  inside  the  tomb  "in  shining 
garments."  John  represents  Mary  Magdalene  alone,  who 
"seeth  two  angels  in  white,  sitting^  the  one  at  the  head  and 
the  other  at  the  feet  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain."  Ob- 
viously we  can  not  and  do  not  have  to  think  of  angels  as  in- 
animates^ fixed  and  immovable  in  their  positions  as  so  many 
statues,  since  the  Scriptures  characterize  them  as  an  order  of 
great  activities.  Now,  if  these  angels  were  represented  as  be- 
ing seen  by  the  same  persons,  all  at  once  in  the  same  moment, 
we  clearly  should  have  discrepant  statements  from  our  Evan- 
gelists. But  just  as  clearly  the  angels  were  not  so  seen,  are 
not  so  described  in  point  of  fact.  Some  time  was  requisite 
for  the  angel  outside  the  sepulcher  to  deliver  and  impress  his 
message  upon  the  women  to  be  borne  to  the  apostles;  and 
more  time  was  consumed  when,  on  the  angel's  invitation,  the 
women  entered  into  the  sepulcher  to  inspect  the  situation. 
All  this  allows  ample  time  for  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
angels  who  were  directing  the  women,  quite  as  much  as  a 
change  in  place  on  the  part  of  the  women  themselves.  The 
angel  outside  the  tomb  did  not  say  to  the  women,  "^o,"  as 
sending  them  within,  but,  "Come,"  as  leading  the  way,  "see 
the  place  where  the  Lord  lay."  ^  The  rest  is  as  easy  as  it  is 
naturaj.  Later,  when  the  women  were  within  the  sepulcher, 
they  saw  the  angels  standing  beside  them ;  but  Mary  Magda- 
lene, returning  alone  to  the  place,  saw  them  composedly 
sitting  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  sepulcher.  Conformably 
with  these  facts,  a  discrepancy  is  impossible. 

B.  The  supposed  difference  between  Luke  and  John  as  to 
whether  Mary  Magdalene  reported  to  the  apostles  generally 
hefore  or  after  she  had  seen  the  angels.  Luke  names  Mary 
Magdalene,    Joanna,    and   Mary   the   mother   of  James,  as 

«Matt.  xxvlll,  6. 


262  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

receiving  a  message  from  the  angels  for  the  apostles,  and 
that  they  "returned  from  the  sepulcher  and  told  all  these 
things  unto  the  eleven  and  all  the  rest ;"  ^^  while  John  repre- 
sents the  Magdalene  as  having  left  the  other  women  at  the 
tomb,  and  running  to  report  the  missing  body  of  Jesus  to 
Peter  and  John.  Luke  omits  stating  this  circumstance  about 
Mary,  but  John  particularizes  it.  Peter  and  John  having 
heard  Mary's  report,  they  run  together  ahead,  and  Mary  fol- 
lows, returning  to  the  tomb,  when,  for  the  first  time,  and  as 
the  first  one,  she  sees  the  risen  Lord.     Arriving, — 

"  Mary  stood  without  the  sepulcher  weeping,  and  as  she  wept  she 
stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sepulcher,  and  seeth  two  angels  sit- 
ting ,  .  .  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain."  "And  they  say  unto 
her,  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  She  saith  unto  them.  Because  they 
have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him. 
When  she  had  thus  said  she  turned  herself  back,  and  beholdeth  Jesus 
standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus  "  until  he  called  her  name, 
"Mary."  Then,  but  not  till  then,  "Mary  Magdalene  cometh  and 
telleth  the  disciples,  I  have  seen  the  Lord,  and  how  he  had  said  these 
things  unto  her."^^ 

It  is  thus  seen  that  Mary  Magdalene  made  two  different 
reports,  on  two  different  occasions,  about  two  different  things : 
the  first  time  to  Peter  and  John  about  the  disturbed  tomb 
before  she  had  seen  either  the  angels  or  Jesus ;  and  also  after 
hawing  seen  them,  she  reported  again  that  fact  unto  "the 
eleven  and  to  all  the  rest."  So  the  supposed  discrepancy 
disappears. 

C.  The  difference  in  the  point  of  time  specified  by  the 
Evangelists  when  the  women  visited  the  Lord's  sepulcher. 
John  states  that  "on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  cometh  Mary 
Magdalene,  early  while  it  was  yet  darh,  imto  the  tomh.''''^ 
Luke  says  that  "on  the  first  day  of  the  week  at  early  dawn 
they  came  unto  the  tomb.'""  Mark  affirms  that  '■''very  earVy 
on  theji/rst  day  of  the  week  they  come  to  the  tomb  when  the  sun 
was  risenr^      Matthew  states   that   "«s  it  began  to  dawn 

«i  Luke  xxlv,  9, 10.  »»  John  xx,  1, 11-18.  ^Ib.  xx,  1. 

9*  Luke  xxlv,  1.  85  Mark  xvl,  1,  2. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  263 

toward  the  tirst  day  of  the  week,  came  Mary  Magdalene  and 
the  other  Mary  to  see  the  sepulcher."  **  The  material  point  of 
difference  in  these  statements  is  that  Matthew,  Luke,  and 
John  substantially  agree  in  saying  that  the  women  went  to 
the  Lord's  sepulcher  "as  it  began  to  dawn,"  "at  the  early 
dawn,"  "early  ivhile  it  was  yet  dark;''''  while  Mark  states  that 
"they  come  to  the  tomb  when  the  sun  was  risen."  Evidently 
the  three  Evangelists  who  mention  the  dawn,  contemplate  the 
time  of  starthig,  while  Mark  contemplates  the  moment  of 
arrival;  for  he  expressly  says,  '■'•They  come  to  the  tomh  when  the 
sun  was  risen.''"'  Some  time  must  be  allowed  for  so  early  a 
gathering  of  the  women  within  the  city  while  it  was  dark, 
and  for  the  social  interchange  of  thoughts  and  feelings  under 
the  intensely  interesting  occasion  of  the  crucifixion  just 
passed,  and  for  the  distribution  of  the  spices  which  they 
themselves  were  to  bear  to  the  tomb,  as  well  as  for  the 
journey  itself,  even  if  there  were  no  short  detention  at  the 
opening  of  the  gate  of  the  city  at  so  early  an  hour.  The 
lapse  of  time  thus  between  "early  dawn"  and  the  risen  sun 
would  indeed  be  brief  in  that  locality.  This  is  but  hypothesis, 
but  it  is  an  hypothesis  which  explains,  and  one  to  which  the 
case  is  entitled.^^ 

D.  The  difference  in  the  descriptions  of  the  feelings  and 
conduct  of  the  women  returning  from  the  sepulcher. 

Mark  says:  "They  went  out  and  fled  from  the  tomb,  for  trembling 
and  astonishment  had  come  upon  them ;  and  they  said  nothing  to  any 
one,  for  they  were  afraid."^*  But  Matthew  says:  "They  departed 
quickly  from  the  sepulcher  with  fear  and  great  joy,  and  did  run  to 
bring  the  disciples  word.  ...  As  they  went  to  tell  his  disciples, 
behold,  Jesus  met  them,  saying,  All  hail !  And  they  came  and  took 
hold  of  his  feet,  and  worshiped  him."^' 

The  discrepant  passages  here,  as  supposed,  are  those  which 
represent  the  women  as  being  at  once  filled  with  terror  as  due 
the  angels,  and  yet  filled  with  "great  joy;"  also  that  they 

96  Matt,  xxvlil,  1.       «'  See  Starkle  on  the  Law  of  Evidence,  $8,— {/3),  in  this  work. 
98 Mark  xvl,  8.  s^Matt.  xxvlil,  8,  9. 


264         Historical  Evidekce  of  the  New  Testament. 

"said  nothing  to  any  one,  for  they  were  afraid,"  yet  "came 
and  took  hold  of  his  feet  and  worshiped  him,"  after  Jesus 
had  hailed  them  on  their  way.  If  we  divide  the  journe}'-  of 
the  women,  from  the  sepulcher  to  the  disciples,  into  two 
sections,  there  is  nothing  whatever  incompatible  in  these 
representations.  For  such  in  fact  was  the  case.  First,  they 
fled  the  tomb  and  the  angels  in  "trembling  and  astonishment," 
and  "said  nothing  to  any  one,"  until  they  met  Jesus,  who 
hailed  them.  Their  complete  recognition  of  him  both  by 
sight  and  by  his  voice,  revolutionized  their  feelings  and 
conduct.  Fright  gave  place  to  pleasure;  "great  joy"  took  the 
place  of  "trembling  and  astonishment."  Having  become 
composed  in  his  presence,  he  charged  them  with  a  special 
message,  together  with  their  own  witness  to  the  disciples  of 
his  resurrection ;  and  from  that  moment  they  were  filled  with 
"  great  joy,  and  did  run  to  bring  his  disciples  word."  Thus, 
without  the  least  discrepancy,  the  women's  conduct  was  as 
natural  as  it  was  real. 

E.  Finally,  the  differences  between  the  accounts  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  as  to  the  place  where  Jesus  appeared 
to  his  disciples  after  he  had  risen.  It  is  claimed  that 
Matthew  ^°°  represents  that  he  manifested  himself  in  Galilee, 
but  Luke^^^  at  or  near  Jerusalem  where  the  sepulcher  was. 

In  this  objection  the  supposition  is,  that  each  Evangelist 
meant  his  own  account  to  be  regarded  as  complete  in  itself, 
and  exclusive  of  the  accounts  of  the  other  Evangelists.  But 
this  is  clearly  a  mistake,  and  not  according  to  the  record  of 
the  case.  For  while  each  writer  in  his  own  memorabilia 
mentions  that  which  occurs  to  him  first  and  impresses  him 
most,  no  Evangelist  claims  to  give  all  the  details  about  any 
occurrence,  much  less  all  the  reappearances  of  the  risen 
Savior.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  for  some  to  relate  those 
instances  in  which  Jesus  manifested  himself  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  his  nativity,  and  others  those  which  occurred  in 

100  Matt,  xxvlll,  16.  loi  Luke  xxlv,  13-48. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  265 

Galilee,  the  case,  in  its  nature,  is  not  at  all  a  discrepancy,  but 
that  of  a  supplementary  narration  in  which  discrepancy  is 
impossible.  This  objection  is  based  upon  only  a  part  of  the 
written  record,  as  we  shall  see. 

Matthew  relates  that  when  the  several  women  together 
in  their  fright  fled  from  the  tomb  at  Jerusalem,  they  met 
Jesus  on  the  way.  Now,  this  Evangelist  records  that  Jesus 
himself  foretold  before  his  death,  "After  I  am  raised  up,  I 
will  go  before  you  into  Galilee."  ^"^  Mark  employs  the 
identical  language.^*^  Matthew  relates  that  at  the  sepulcher 
the  angel  said,  "Tell  his  disciples  that  he  is  risen  from  the 
dead ;  and  lo,  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee ;  there  shall  ye 
see  him ;"  a  circumstance  which  is  stated  more  fully  by  Mark : 
"But  go,  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter,  that  he  goeth  before  you 
into  Galilee;  there  shall  ye  see  him  as  he  said  %into  you:^^^ 
Accordingly,  Matthew  continues  that,  "the  eleven  disciples 
went  into  Galilee,  unto  the  mountain  where  Jesus  had 
appointed  them;  and  when  they  saw  him,  they  worshiped 
him,"^°^  Mark  adds  that,  "When  Jesus  was  risen  early  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  he  appeared  first  unto  Mary 
Magdalene;"  also  to  the  two  disciples,  "as  they  walked  on 
their  way  into  the  country"  to  Emmaus;  also  to  "the  eleven 
themselves  as  they  sat  at  meat  [at  Jerusalem],  and  he 
upbraided  them  with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart, 
because  they  believed  not  them  which  had  seen  him  after  he 
was  risen."  ^^  Luke  is  occupied  in  his  Gospel  with  statements 
of  reappearances  in  and  near  Jerusalem  ;^°'  but  in  his  Book  of 
Acts,  he  records  this :  "  To  whom  he  also  showed  himself  alive 
after  his  passion  by  many  [infallible]  proofs,  appearing  unto 
them  by  the  space  of  forty  days."^°^  He  also  records  Paul 
approvingly  as  saying,  "  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and 
he  was  seen  for  many  days  of  them  that  came  up  with  him 
from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  are  now  witnesses  unto  the 

»M  Matt,  xxvi,  32.  wa  Mark  xlv,  28.  >o*  Matt,  xxvlli,  7;  Mark  xvl,  7. 

105 Matt,  xxvlil,  16, 17.         »»«  Mark  xvl,  12, 14. 

lOTLuke  xxiv,  10, 13-31,36-40,  48,  50-52.  »<»  Acts  1,  3;  see  also  xiii,  30,  31.    265 


266         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Xew  Testament. 

people."  So  Luke  also  approvingly  records  Peter's  declara- 
tion :  "  Plim  God  raised  up  [on]  the  third  day  and  gave  him  to 
be  made  manifest,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses 
that  were  chosen  before  of  God  even  to  us  who  did  eat  and 
drink  with  him  after  he  rose  from  the  dead."  ^®  So  also  Paul 
himself,  in  mentioning  a  number  of  appearances  of  Jesus 
about  Jerusalem,  adds  this  also :  "  Then  he  appeared  to  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater  part 
remain  until  now."  ""^  Then  John  relates  the  details  of  Mary 
Magdalene  seeing  Jesus  alive  again,  his  repeated  appearances 
to  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem,  and  also  to  his  disciples  at  the 
seaside  in  Galilee.  "This  is  now  the  third  time  that  Jesus 
was  manifested  to  his  disciples  [collectively]  after  that  he  was 
risen  from  the  dead,"*^^  It  is  thus  evident  that  from  the 
record,  on  the  testimony  of  all  the  sacred  writers,  Jesus  was 
seen  after  his  resurrection,  hoth  in  Judaea  and  Galilee,  and  no 
discrepancy  appears. 

III.  Confirmations  by  Enemies  of  Christianity. 

The  special  value  of  this  testimony  consists  in  the  fact 

that   as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second   century  when 

Celsus    in    literature    assailed    Christianity,    he 

§193.  Testi-  .  "^ ' 

monyof  verifies  the  verdict  of  Christendom,  and  dreads 
the  conviction  of  the  heathen  world  respecting 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from  the  dead.  His  energetic  opposi- 
tion to  the  belief  admits  the  prior  and  current  historical 
claim  of  Christ's  rising.  For  while  he  sometimes  denies  for 
himself  that  event,  he  admits  that  something  certainly  did 
occur  which  suddenly  and  powerfully  affected  both  friends 
and  foes  of  the  new  religion.  That  something  was  rapidly 
and  deeply  moving  whole  communities  toward  Christianity 
with  a  conviction  that  was  as  permanent  as  it  was  revolu- 
tionary in  character  religiously.      It  required   explanation; 

109  Acts  X,  40,  41.  "01  Cor.  xv,  4-6;  comp.  Matt,  xxvlil,  16, 17;  Mark  xlv,  28. 

1"  John  XX,  14,  17,  19-22,  24-26;  xxl,  1,  2-14. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  267 

but  an  explanation  Celsus  was  never  able  to  give ;  so  he 
weakly  resorts  to  ridicule  in  the  place  of  reasoning.  It  will, 
however,  be  specially  noted  that  he  never  in  any  instance 
ascribes  Christ's  resurrection  to  a  mythical  origin,  or  to  some 
vague  legend  as  having  a  modicum  of  truth  with  a  large  part 
of  fiction.  Upon  the  contrary,  he  repeatedly  reminds  his 
Christian  readers,  and  accentuates  the  fact,  that  for  his  infor- 
mation on  Christian  beliefs  he  relies  exclusively  on  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Christians  which  he  had  in  his  possession — books 
which  he  himself  affirms  were  written  by  Christ's  disciples. 
Accordingly,  Celsus  accepts  the  Gospels  as  those  writings 
relied  upon  by  Christians  in  distinction  from  all  other  writings 
which  were  apocryphal  which  arose  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century.     He  says: 

"  By  what,  then,  were  you  induced  [to  become  Christians]?  Was  it 
because  he  foretold  that  after  his  death  he  would  rise  again  ?"  "^  "  But 
this  is  the  question,  Whether  any  one  who  was  really  dead  ever  rose 
again  with  a  veritable  body?""^  ^'He  rose  after  his  death,  and  exhibited 
the  marks  of  his  punishment,  and  showed  hoiv  his  hands  had  been  pierced  by 
nails;"  and  "while  alive,  he  was  no  assistance  to  himself,  but  that 
when  he  was  dead,  he  rose  again  and  showed  the  marks  of  his  punishment, 
and  how  his  hands  were  pierced  with  nails."  ^^* 

Origen,  replying  to  Celsus,  quotes  him  as  saying: 

"We  ridicule  those  who  worship  Jupiter  because  his  tomb  is  pointed 
out  in  the  island  of  Crete ;  and  yet  we  worship  him  ivho  rose  from  the 
tomb;"^^^  "He  assails  us  who  acknowledge  that  our  Jesus  had  been 
buried  indeed,  but  who  maintain  that  he  has  been  raised  from  the 
tomb ;  a  statement  which  the  Cretans  have  not  yet  made  regarding 
Jupiter."  "6 

The  evidential  value  of  Celsus's  testimony  is  to  be  found 
directly  in  the  disturbing  reason  which  induced  the  people  to 
become  Christians,  but  which  he  absolutely  fails  to  answer  as 
his  own  question.  He  admits  that  Jesus  was  dead  as  not  to 
be  questioned ;  and  he  seems  to  cite  with  approval  the  Chris- 
tian belief  when  he  says,  "He  rose  after  his  death  and  ex- 

^v^Origen  contra  Cefsum,  il,  .54.       I'^/ft.  n^  57.       luib.  il,  59;  ii,  55. 
"5  lb.  lil,  43,  t6i>  awb  rod  T6.<t)ov.        "6 1  b.  lil,  48. 


268         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

hibited  the  marks  of  bis  pimisbment,  and  sbowed  bow  bis 
bands  bad  been  pierced  witb  nails,"  aifirming  tbat  from  tbe 
beginning  tbe  Christians  did  "worship  him  who  rose  from 
tbe  tomb."  This  is  tbe  assertion  of  tbe  capital  fact  which 
is  its  own  explanation.  If  Jesus  had  not  risen  from  tbe 
dead  as  be  himself  bad  foretold,  he  would  never  have  been 
worshiped  by  mankind,  nor  would  Christianity  ever  have 
obtained  a  foothold  among  the  nations.  It  is  precisely  that 
fact  that  has  given  the  Christian  religion  such  power  over 
men.  That  alone  absolutely  answers  Celsus's  questions;  not 
tbat  Jesus  foretold  bis  own  resurrection,  but  tbat,  having 
foretold  it,  it  became  a  real  and  undeniable  fact  to  those  who 
saw  him  after  that  be  was  risen.  Nothing  else  can  account 
for  the  origin  of  Christianity ;  and  nothing  else  is  required  for 
tbe  sufficient  explanation. 

As  exhibiting  bow  the  Jews  dreaded  the  circulation  of  tbe 

report  tbat  Jesus  whom  they  bad  crucified,  bad  risen,^"  and 

§194.  TheTes-  to  wbat  extremes  they  bad  recourse  in  order  to 

Toiedoth^    avoid  and  evade  the  powerful  influence  of  tbe 

jeshu.       fact,  it  may  be  well  to  insert  tbe  testimony  of 

this  rabbinical  work  on  this  subject.     It  says: 

"After  the  death  of  Jesus,  his  body  was  dragged  ignominiously 
through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem ;  and  when  distant  disciples  heard  the 
report  of  their  Master's  death  and  resurrection,  they  hastened  to  send 
a  deputation  to  the  city  to  investigate  the  facts ;  and  upon  their  arrival 
the  Jewish  rulei-s  showed  them  the  [pretended]  Master's  corpse,  after 
which  the  deputation  retired  and  returned  home,  reporting  that  he  was 
risen  from  the  dead!"^^^ 

If  this  story  is  not  absolutely  a  fiction  throughout,  it  is 
barely  possible  tbat  tbe  Jews  sought  to  impose  upon  tbe 
deputation  by  showing  them  tbe  dead  body  of  some  man  as  a 
proof  tbat  Jesus  was  not  indeed  risen  and  alive  again ;  but  the 
deputation  at  once  detecting  tbe  attempted  cheat,  and  having 

1"  Matt,  xxvll,  64;  conip.  Acts  Iv,  14-17,  and  v,  28. 

"8Comp.  note  at  end  of  $  183,  and  Dr.   Whately's  Annotation  on  Paley'8 
Evidences,  Part  11,  c.  8,  p.  302,  Amer.  ed. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  269 

the  true  account  confirmed  in  Jerusalem,  they  returned  and 
reported  the  case  as  it  really  was  to  their  people. 

Eabbi  Moses  Haddarshan,  alluding  to  Messiah  as  referred 
to  by  the  prophet  Hosea,  says :  "After  two  days 
he  [Messiah]  will  revive  us ;  he  will  revive  us  in   inony  of  the 
the  days  of   the   consolation   to   come."      "  The 
Messiah     .     .     .     shall  die  and  rise  again,  and  the  dead  shall 
he  raisedP'^^^ 

It  was  the  remarkable  saying  of  Rabbi  Judah  Hakkodesh, 
''''After  three  days  the  soul  of  the  Messiah  shall  return  to  its 
hody,  and  he  shall  go  out  of  that  [sepulcher  of]  stone  in  which 
he  shall  he  huriedr  ^ 

In  his  testimony  of  Jesus,  Josephus  affirms  that  '•''He  ap- 
peared  to   them   alive    again   on   the   third  day, 
as   the   divine  prophets  had  foretold  these   and   '  mony  of 
ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  concerning 
him:'"^' 

IV.  Reconfirmations  by  Friends  of  Christianity. 

The  witness  of  the  immediate  disciples  and  successors  of 
the  apostles  is  the  connecting  link  in  the  history  of  this 
fundamental  fact  and  doctrine  of  the  Christian 

S  197    T©sti- 

faith.     The  testimony  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers    mony  of  the 
serves  not  only  to  prove  the  anterior  origin  of      "fathers" 
the  faith  as  claimed,  but  also  serves  to  prove 
the  identity  of  that  fact  and  faith  with  that  now  embraced 
and  maintained  in  the  Christian  Church. 

1.  Barnabas  (A.  D.  70-79):  "  Having  brought  about  the  resurrection 
he  will  himself  exercise  judgment."  "  Wherefore  also  we  keep  the 
eighth  day  for  rejoicing,  in  which  also  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead."^^^ 

2.  Clement  of  Rome  (A.  D.  95):  "How  the  Master  continually 
showeth  unto  us  the  resurrection.  .  .  .  Wherefore  he  made  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  firstfruits  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead. 
Day  and  night,  dearly  beloved,  show  unto  us  the  resurrection."^ 

ii90n  Gen.  xxU,  4,  Ber.  Rab.  and  Targum,  see  Schottgen,  Lectiones  RabbiniccB, 
1, 11,  pp.  557,  556,  572;  cf.  Matt,  xxvil.  51-53. 

'20Oited  by  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  Commentary  on  Matt,  xxvlll,  7,  last  ed. 
I'l  Josephus,  Antiquities,  B.  18,  c.  3,  $3.  See  Excursus  A,  ol  this  work. 
i»2  Barn.  Epistle,  cc.  5, 15.  "»  Clem.  Epis.  c.  24, 


270         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

3.  Ignatius  (A.  D.  107) :  "  Ignatius  .  .  .  rejoiceth  in  the  passion 
of  our  Lord,  and  in  his  resurrection  without  wavering." i^'*  "Jesus 
Christ  who  was  of  the  race  of  David,  who  was  the  son  of  Mary,  .  .  . 
persecuted  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  truly  crucified  and  died  in  the 
sight  of  those  in  heaven,  and  those  on  earth,  and  those  under  the  earth  ; 
who  moreover  toas  truly  raised  from  the  dead,  his  Heavenly  Father  having 
raised  him,  who  in  like  fashion  will  raise  us  also  who  believe  in  him/'^^s 
"  My  chart  is  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  .  his  death  and  his  resurrection,  and 
faith  through  him."  "The  Gospel  hath  a  singular  pre-eminence  in  the 
advent  of  the  Savior,  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  passion  and 
resurrection."  ^^^ 

4.  Polycarp  (A.  D.  155) :  "  Paul  himself  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles 
.  .  .  loved  .  .  .  Him  who  died  for  our  sakes,  and  was  raised  by 
God  for  us."  "Our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  who  endured  to  face  even  death 
for  our  sins,  whom  Ood  raised,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of  Hades."  "And 
may  He  grant  unto  you  a  lot  and  portion  among  the  saints  .  .  .  who 
shall  believe  on  our  Lord  and  God  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  Father  that  raised 
him  from  the  dead."  ^^^ 

The  earliest  defenders  of  Christianity,  before  the  local  or  the 

imperial  government,  gave  expression  to  that  which  completes 

the  proof  that  the  Church  was  founded  upon  the 

mo^o/the   imperishable  fact  of  Christ's   resurrection  from 

Christian     i\^q  (iead.     They  constantly  affirmed  and  tena- 

Apologists.  "^  '' 

ciously  maintained  "the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints."  Their  witness  gives  unity  and  continuity  to  the 
historical  belief  in  the  resurrection.  No  historian  is  supposed 
to  have  witnessed  the  events  which  he  records;  but  wisely 
searches  for  just  such  evidence  as  is  furnished  by  the  Chris- 
tian Apologists  on  this  subject.  Their  testimony  may  be  taken 
in  chronological  order. 

1.  Aristides  (A.  D.  123-126):  "He  was  pierced  by  the  Jews,  and  he 
died  and  was  buried ;  and  they  say  that  after  three  days  he  rose."  ^^ 

2.  Tertullian  (A.  D.  200):  "Then  when  his  body  was  taken  down 
from  the  cross  and  placed  in  a  sepulcher,  the  Jews  in  their  eager  watch- 
fulness surrounded  it  with  a  large  military  guard,  lest,  as  he  had  pre- 
dicted his  resurrection  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  his  disciples 
might  remove  by  stealth  his  body,  and  deceive  even  the  incredulous. 
But  lo !  on  the  third  day  there  was  a  shock  of  earthquake,  and  the  seal 
which  sealed  [the  great  stone  of]  the  sepulcher  [was  broken,  and  the 

124  Ignat.  Introd.  Epis.  to  PhiVa.  ^"-^  Kpis.  to  TralVs,  c.  9. 

mjjpjs.  to  PhiVa,  cc.  8,  9.  i^:  Pply.  Epixlle,  cc,  9. 1, 12.  i^s  Aris.  Apology. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  271 

stone]  was  rolled  away,  and  the  guard  fled  off  in  terror  without  a  single 
disciple  near ;  the  grave  was  found  empty  of  all  but  the  clothes  of  the 
buried  One."  ^^ 

3.  Origen  (A.  D.  248) :  "For  who  is  ignorant  of  the  statement  that 
Jesus  was  born  of  a  virgin,  and  that  he  was  crucified,  and  that  his  resur- 
rection is  an  article  of  faith  among  [the]  many."  "And  yet  the  mystery  of 
the  resurrection,  not  being  understood,  is  made  a  subject  of  ridicule 
among  unbelievers."  ^^ 

Paul's  witness  on  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  invaluable  on 
two  special  accounts:  because  of  his  prior  hostility  to  Chris- 
tianity, and  because  that  now  no  living  skeptic 
denies  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  Paul's  mony  of  the 
first  four  Epistles.  The  fiercest  adversary  became  ^°^ 
the  greatest  advocate  of  the  Christian  religion.  "What  wrought 
such  revolution  in  the  conviction  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  ?  He  alone 
can  tell  the  story,  and  no  human  being  was  ever  willing  to  die 
for  a  lie,  he  knowing  it  to  be  such.  When  upon  a  mission  of  per- 
secution, "  yet  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against 
the  disciples  of  the  Lord,"  he  was  smitten  to  the  earth  by 
an  unseen  power ;  and  from  the  dust  he  looked  up  and  talked 
with  the  risen  and  ascended  Christ  in  heaven.^^  Becoming 
converted  in  his  faith,  he  remained  a  changed  man  in  his  life. 
His  genius  and  learning,  his  culture  and  spirituality,  thence- 
forth gave  him  a  power  over  men  never  realized  except  by 
and  from  the  "Man  of  l^azareth."  N"o  apostle,  nor  all  the 
apostles  together,  labored  so  successfully  for  the  development 
of  the  Christian  doctrine  as  he.  His  personal  work  and  influ- 
ence, so  far  from  having  diminished,  have  extended  down  the 
centuries,  and  are  realized  more  than  ever  among  the  great 
and  greatest  nations  of  the  earth,  and  are  felt  most  in  the  fore- 
most civilizations  which  his  teachings  have  created.  Dr.  Philip 
Schatf  observes: 

"  The  late  Dr.  Keim  [says] :  '  The  whole  character  of  Paul,  his  sharp 
understanding,  which  was  not  weakened  by  his  enthusiasm  ;  the  careful, 
cautious,  measured,  simple  form  of  statement ;  above  all,  the  favorable 
total  impression  of  his  narrative,  and  the  mighty  echo  of  it  in  the  unanimous, 

i29Tertull.  Apol.  c.  21.    ''O  Origen  contra  Celsuni,  1,  c.  7.    I'l  Acts,  Ix,  xxli,  xxvl. 
18 


272  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

uncontradicted  faith  of  primitive  Christendoin,  must  not  be  overlooked.'  Dr. 
Baur,  the  master-spii-it  of  skeptical  ci'iticism,  and  founder  of  the  Tu- 
bingen School,  felt  constrained,  shortly  before  his  death,  ...  to 
say,  that  in  '  the  sudden  transformation  of  Paul  from  the  most  violent 
adversary  of  Christianity  into  its  most  determined  herald,'  he  could  see 
^nothing  short  of  a  miracle.'  'This  miracle  appears  all  the  greater  when  we 
remember  that,  in  the  revulsion  of  his  consciousness,  he  broke  through  the 
barriers  of  Judaism,  and  rose  out  of  its  particularism  into  the  universalism 
of  Christianity.'  "  ^^^ 

In  Paul's  ministry  at  Athens  he  "preached  unto  them  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection.^^  ..."  ^V7terefore  he  hath  given  assur- 
ance unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  deady  ^^ 
In  the  apostle's  imprisonment  at  Csesarea-on-the-Sea,  Festus, 
the  noble  procurator,  explained  to  King  Agrippa  II  why 
Paul  was  a  prisoner  in  his  custody,  saying  that  the  Jews  had 
brought  accusations  "against  him  of  their  own  superstition, 
and  of  one  Jesus  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  he  aliveP  ^^ 

In  his  Letters,  Paul  taught  the  same  great  fact  and  doc- 
trine of  Christ's  resurrection.  Dedicating  his  Epistle  to  the 
Komans  to  this  imperishable  principle,  he  writes  with  great 
power : 

"  Concerning  his  Son,  who  was  born  of  the  seed  of  David,  according 
to  the  flesh,  who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  op  God  with  power,  accord- 
ing to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  .  .  .  Knowing  that  Christ,  being  raised  from  the  dead, 
dieth  no  more."  "  If  thou  wilt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  wilt  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou 
shall  be  saved."  "  Unto  whom  it  shall  be  reckoned  who  believe  on  him 
that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who  was  delivered  for  our 
offenses,  and  tvas  raised  for  our  justification."  " But  if  the  Spirit  of  him 
that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell  in  yoxi,  he  that  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies,  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth 
in  you." 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  Paul  speaks  of  himself  in 
respect  to  his  apostolate  as  being  "an  apostle,  not  of  men, 
neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus  Christ  and  God  the  Father,  who 
raised  him  from  the  deadP^^ 

^^Hisit.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  I,  p.  315.       im  Acts  xvli,  18,  31.       "*Act9  xxv,  14, 19. 
136  Rom.  1.8,  4;  Iv,  23-25;  vl,  8-10;  vili,  11;  x,  9;  comp.  1  Thess.  Iv,  13-17;  Acts 
xxlv,  14,  etc.  185  Gal.  1,1. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  273 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  Paul  iterates  and  accent- 
uates the  fact  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  resurrection  with 
considerable  enlargement.     He  says : 

"I  delivered  unto  you,  first  of  all,  that  which  I  also  received,  how 
that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  and  that  he 
was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  Twelve ;  after  that 
he  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater 
part  remain  unto  this  day.  .  .  .  After  that  he  was  seen  of  James, 
then  of  all  the  apostles ;  and  last  of  all  was  he  seen  of  me  also."  '^^ 

Such  was  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle  Paul  in  indoctrinat- 
ing the  several  Churches  on  the  fundamental  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Y.    Monumental  Evidence  of  His  Resurrection. 
As  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  has 

.  „   „,     .  ,      §  200.  Monu- 

ever  been  the  solemn  Memorial  of  Chrtsfs  death^  mentsof  the 
so  there  now  exist  two  Monuments  of  his  resur- 
rection.     These  are   respectively   designated   The    Christian 
Church  and  The  Christian  Sabbath. 

a)  The  existence  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  in  itself 
an  enduring  monument  of  his  resurrection.  It  must  be  so  in  the 
very  nature  of  the  case.  Clearly,  if  there  had  been  no  resur- 
rection, there  could  be  no  Church  founded  upon  it.  But  the 
Church  does  exist,  and  has  existed  in  unbroken  continuity  from 
the  times  of  the  apostles  until  now.  It  has  ever  been  standing 
before  the  Ages,  a  visible  institution,  living  an  historical  life 
through  all  these  Christian  centuries  since.  It  began  to  be  at 
a  definite  date ;  it  has  continued  to  be,  despite  the  oppositions 
which  have  confronted  it  and  the  distresses  and  cruelties  im- 
posed upon  it  from  Jewish  and  Roman  persecutions.  It  lives 
to-day,  a  great  Society  abroad  in  the  world,  identified  with  the 
foremost  nations  of  the  earth,  extending  its  benign  influence 
to  all  pagan  lands,  and  numbering  in  its  organization  hundreds 
of  millions  of  the  best  peoples  among  mankind. 

i«6  1  Cor.  XV,  3-8. 


274         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

There  was  a  brief  period  intervening  the  crucifixioii  and 
the  organization  of  Christianity  into  a  Church,  which  should 
not  be  overlooked.  It  was  a  time  conspicuous  for  its  wrecked 
hopes,  its  demoralized  faith,  and  its  outcry  of  despair  and 
anguish,  on  the  part  of  the  broken-hearted  apostles.  In  the 
death  of  the  crucified  Christ  everything  was  lost  to  them,  as 
they  saw  it.  Every  source  of  hope  was  extinguished.  It  was 
the  death  of  all  their  Messianic  conceptions  of  Christ's  king- 
dom and  reign.  In  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  some  first 
messengers  came  hurriedly  to  tell  them  that  Jesus  was  alive 
again,  that  he  had  been  seen,  and  that  he  had  risen  from  his 
tomb.  But  the  apostles  could  not  heed  their  word.  To  them  it 
seemed  that  their  report  was  a  most  improbable  vagary,  which 
they  must  have  imagined.  It  was  rejected  in  absolute  negation. 
As  previously,  they  only  mourned  and  wept,  and  their  words 
seemed  to  them  as  idle  tales,  and  they  believed  them  not. 
Unto  some  of  them  at  least  Jesus  soon  appeared,  "and  up- 
braided them  with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart,  be- 
cause they  believed  not  them  which  had  seen  him  after  he 
was  risen."  Meantime,  some  of  tliem  had  abandoned  the 
cause,  and  returned  to  their  old  occupation — to  their  nets  and 
fishing-boats  in  the  sea  of  Galilee.  Now  we  are  come  upon 
their  crucial  moments.  When  the  third  day  was  opening,  a 
stupendous  event  occurred  suddenly,  which  took  the  apostles 
by  surprise.  Its  effect  was  to  counteract  their  feelings  of 
utter  despair,  to  revolutionize  all  their  prior  convictions  of  the 
Messianic  situation,  and  to  inspire  them  every  one  with  a  new 
faith  and  a  marvelous  courage.  There  was  but  the  one  occur- 
rence, but  that  wrought  a  complete  revolution  and  conversion  of 
the  apostles.  It  xoas  the  power  of  a  new  fact;  it  was  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  Nothing  less  could  have 
given  them  the  new  moral  uplift.  Brought  now  into  a  better 
understanding  of  his  Messianic  kingship  as  being  not  mon- 
archal, but  spiritual,  their  faith  began  to  be  reconstructed  in- 
telligently, and  it  abides  in  tlie  Church  to  this  day.     With  an 


The  E.ESUKRECTION  OF  Jesus  Christ.  275 

astounding  energy  and  courage  the  apostles  began  to  publish 
openly,  before  friends  and  foes  alike,  the  fact  of  the  risen 
Christ;  and  on  this  fact  they  founded  the  faith  and  the 
existence  of  Christianity.  Henceforth  their  watchword  down 
through  all  the  succeeding  ages  has  been,  The  Crucified  and 
Risen  Lord.  On  that  one  truth  the  very  existence  and  life  of 
the  Church  repose.  The  Church,  accordingly,  is  a  living  and 
perpetuating  monument  of  Christ's  resurrection. 

/3)  Another  monument  is  the  Christian  Sabbath.  The 
transfer  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  for  its 
observance  is  not,  and  never  was,  claimed  on  the  ground  of  a 
specific  command.  But  the  New  Testament  is  hy  no  means  a 
hook  of  mere  specific  commiands.  It  is  rather  the  embodiment 
of  great  principles  looking  to  great  spiritual  ends,  for  the 
advantage  of  mean's  spiritual  life.  "The  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath ;  therefore  the  Son  of 
man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath."  It  would  indeed  be  a  fal- 
lacy in  reasoning  to  suppose  that  a  specific  command  was  in- 
dispensable for  the  radical  and  revolutionary  change  from 
Judaism  to  Christianity;  from  the  system  of  sacrifices  and 
ceremonies  of  the  ancient  Jews  to  the  faith  and  institutions  of 
the  Christian  Church.  It  is  precisely  so  in  the  change  from 
the  Jewish  to  the  Christian  Sabbath,  of  which  each  was 
distinctively  an  integral  and  representative  part  of  its  own 
religious  system.  The  Sabbaths  went  and  came  with  their 
respective  systems.  In  the  absence  of  any  express  requirement 
from  Christ,  either  to  abolish  or  continue  the  Jewish  national 
Sabbath,  the  change  made  was  as  radical  and  absolute  as  the 
change  in  the  system  to  which  it  belonged. 

This  legitimates  the  inquiry  for  the  principle  and  the 
authority  involved  in  the  change  of  the  Sabbath  days.  The 
principle  is  discoverable  in  the  distinctive  ohject  of  the  Sabbath 
observed,  and  the  authority  for  the  change  in  the  example  and 
practice  of  the  authorized  apostles  themselves.  Jesus  was  with 
his  disciples  forty  days,  "speaking  of  the  things  pertaining  to 


276  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  kingdom  of  God  "  after  his  rising.  Much  of  those  instruc- 
tions and  authorizations  remains  unwritten  in  the  Gospels ;  but 
all,  as  we  would  naturally  expect,  was  wrought  into  the  practice 
of  the  early  Church,  when  the  apostles  laid  its  foundations, 
and  reconstructed  its  institutions  and  monuments,  "  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self being  the  chief  corner-stone."  Now,  as  to  the  objects  had 
in  view,  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  set  apart  to  be  commemora- 
tive of  God's  creation,  as  a  finished  work  /  and  the  Christian 
Sabbath  was  set  apart  as  commemorative  of  Christ's  finished 
redemption^  "even  the  redemption  of  your  body."  Hence  it 
has  always  been  religiously  observed  by  acts  of  worship  and 
service  in  celebration  of  Christ's  resurrection.  By  so  much  as 
our  redemption  as  God's  loving  act  transcends  the  work  of 
creation  of  the  world,  by  so  much  is  the  Christian  Sabbath 
superior  and  supreme  touching  man's  spiritual  interests.  This 
should  be  constantly  kept  in  sight  as  a  determining  factor  in 
the  change  effected  in  the  day.  So  much  as  to  the  objects 
contemplated  respecting  the  two  Sabbaths  and  their  religious 
observance. 

In  regard  to  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church  in  inaugu- 
rating the  Christian  Sabbath  with  its  new  and  special  object 
for  observance,  there  was  no  specific  command  for  the  continu- 
ance of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  while  yet  the  loliole  Jewish  systenn 
was  absolutely  abolished.  To  that  system  it  distinctively  be- 
longed, in  which  it  was  a  most  conspicuous  institution.  For  a 
period  the  apostles,  all  being  Jewish  Christians,  naturally  felt 
at  liberty  to  employ  the  old  sacrificial  observances  in  their  wor- 
ship in  the  temple,  in  which  they  had  been  religiously  edu- 
cated and  developed ;  but  the  time  drew  near  when  Judaism 
and  Christianity  separated.  On  the  Jewish  Sabbath  day,  the 
tenth  day  of  August,  in  A.  D.  70,  the  ancient  temple  itself  was 
burned  down  by  the  Komans,  the  fires  of  sacrifice  upon  its 
altars  were  forever  extinguished,  and  the  whole  Jewish  system 


The  Resurrection'  of  Jescs  Christ.  277 

was  absolutely  abolished  and  abandoned.  The  nation  was  ex- 
patriated and  dispersed,  and  in  no  land  since  has  there  been 
erected  a  Jewish  altar  for  sacrificial  offering  to  God.  The 
practice  of  the  apostles,  commissioned  especially  as  they  were 
by  Christ  for  their  work,  must  be  regarded  as  the  sufficient 
authority  for  the  Sabbatic  change  in  the  day.  For  it  must 
be  obvious  that,  however  they  may  have  acted  without  the 
written  requirement  from  Christ,  they  could  not  have  acted 
without  his  unwritten  authority.  It  would  indeed  be  a  violent 
presumption  to  assume  that  the  first  thing  the  apostles  did 
in  their  new  commission  was  to  discard  the  old  Sabbath  when 
it  was  meant  that  it  should  be  preserved  and  perpetuated,  and 
proceed  to  institute  and  inaugurate  a  new  Sabbath  without 
authority.  And  if  the  claim  were  made  that  the  old  Sab- 
bath was  incorporated  in  the  Decalogue,  and  especially  em- 
phasized as  no  other  command  was,  "Remember  the  Sabbath 
day  to  keep  it  holy,"  the  sufficient  reply  is,  that  the  require- 
ment was  to  remember  the  Sabhath  day,  but  not  to  remeinber 
the  seventh  day.  And  this  is  done  in  the  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath ;  for  all  that  was  sacred  and  obligatory  in 
the  old  was  reverently  transferred  and  perpetuated  to  the  new 
Sabbath.  In  the  original  Sabbath  room  was  left  for  such  trans- 
fer, in  that,  in  every  one  of  the  six  days  mentioned,  there  was  a 
limitation  by  the  evening  and  the  morning;  but  the  seventh  or 
the  Sabbath  was  left  without  such  limitation.^^  It  was  there- 
fore open  and  free  for  the  apostles,  in  organizing  the  Christian 
Church  in  separation  from  the  Jewish  Church,  to  institute  the 
new  day  appropriate  to  the  new  faith,  in  the  new  Church,  for 
the  new  era  in  human  history. 

"What,  then,  does  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  their  suc- 
cessors prove  and  illustrate  touching  the  change  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week? 


13T  Compare  Gen.  1,  31,  and  11,  2,  3. 


278         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a .  The  apostles  themselves,  in  recognition  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath  day,  very  distinctively  and  significantly  called  it  '■'■The 
Lorcfs  Day^"*  and  they  restricted  its  religious  observance  to 
'■'■the  first  day  of  the  weehP'^^ 

b .  In  the  newly  found  document  known  as  the  Teaching 
of  the  Apostles  (dating  about  A.  D.  70),  the  Christian  Sabbath 
is  emphasized  as  '■'■the  Lorcfs  own  dayP  It  reads:  "Gather 
yourselves  together  and  break  bread  and  give  thanks." 

c .  The  Apostolic  Fathers,  who  were  personally  taught  by 
the  apostles  in  the  observances  of  the  Christian  doctrine  and 
faith,  have  in  turn  recorded  their  teachings  for  the  Church 
thus: 

Barnabas  (A.  D.  70)  says: 

"Your  present  Sabbaths  are  not  acceptable  to  me.  .  .  .  [God 
says  ]  I  will  make  a  [  new  ]  beginning  of  the  eighth  day  .  .  .  where- 
fore we  keep  the  Lord's  day  with  joyfulness  ;  the  day  on  which  Jesus 
rose  from  the  dead.  "  "' 

Ignatius  (A.  D.  107)  says: 

"If,  then,  those  who  walked  in  the  ancient  practices  attain  unto 
newness  of  hope,  no  longer  observing  Sabbaths,  but  fashioning  their  lives 
after  the  Lord's  day,  on  which  our  Life  also  arose  through  him,  .  .  . 
that  we  may  be  found  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  Teacher."  "" 

d.  Justin  Martyr,  the  Apologist  (135-145),  says: 

"  Sunday  is  a  day  on  which  we  all  hold  our  common  assembly,  be- 
cause it  is  the  first  day  of  the  week  on  which  God,  having  wrought  a 
change  in  the  darkness  and  matter,  made  the  world ;  and  Jesus  Christ 
our  Savior  on  the  day  he  rose  from  the  dead.  .  .  .  And  on  the  day 
called  Sunday  all  who  live  in  cities  or  in  the  country  gather  in  one 
place  and  the  Memoirs  [i.  e.,  the  Gospels]  of  the  apostles,  or  the  writings 
of  the  prophets,  are  read  as  long  as  time  permits.""^ 

e.  Irenasus,  Bishop  of  Lj^ons  (178)  wrote:  "The  mystery 
of  the  Lord's  resurrection  may  not  be  celebrated  on  any  other 
day  than  the  Lord's  Day."  ^"^ 

13'  See  Rev.  i,  10;  Acts  xx,  7;  1  Cor.  xvl,  2;  John  xx,  19,  2«. 
189  ^pis.  c.  15.  i*o  Epis.to  Mag.Q.  i»  First  Apol.  0.67. 

i«  See  McOllntock  and  Strong's  Cyclop,  v,  507. 


The  Resureection  of  Jesus  Christ.  279 

f .  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage  (200-258),  mentions  "the 
Lord's  Day"  as  both  "the  first  and  the  eighth  day."^*^ 

Now,  as  has  been  noted  elsewhere,  accounting  that  the 
Christian  era  began,  according  to  corrected  chronology,  B.  C.  4, 
and  that  the  crucifixion  occurred  about  twenty-nine  years 
afterward,  reckoning  on  to  the  opening  of  the  year  1900,  the 
Christian  Sabbath  will  have  been  celebrated  continuously 
throughout  Christendom  no  less  than  97,292  times  as  an  act 
and  observance  monumental  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ* 

YI.  Modern  Theories  of  the  Resurrection. 

Skeptical  critics,  feeling  the  power  of  the  fact  in  the  Chris- 
tian system,  have  sought  to  explain  the  occurrence  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus,  in  the  one  case,  by  the  theory  of  an 
abnormal  condition  of  ChrisVs  body  ^  in  another,  by  the  abnor- 
mal condition  of  the  apostles'  minds.  Both  are  baseless  suppo- 
sitions illustrative  of  an  evasion  of  the  real  fact,  and  neither 
offers  a  substantial  reason  to  support  the  position  assumed.  If 
one  theory  would  prove  the  proposition,  the  other  would  thereby 
be  disproved  as  the  theory;  but  both  theories  assume  what 
neither  proves  nor  can  prove,  by  simply  begging  the  question, 
which  is  so  much  more  convenient  for  the  advocates. 

When  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur  openly  affirmed  that  the 
nature  of  Christ's  resurrection  was  not  a  proper  subject  for 
historical  investiqation,  his  position  was  severely 

...  .  §201    F.C.Baiir 

criticised  by  Strauss  as  being  an  evasion  of  the  and  the 
main  point  at  issue  between  Christianity  and  esvirrection, 
all  negative  criticism.  Nevertheless,  in  that  particular,  Baur 
was  clearly  right.  For  obviously  the  nature  of  an  event  is 
one  thing,  and  its  historical  occurrence  as  a  fact  is  another. 
If  a  miracle  was  something  to  be  explained  on  natural  prin- 
ciples, then  the  nature  of  the  resurrection  would  be  that  which 

*  For  a  development  of  the  Evidence  and  Argument  respecting  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  see  $$  105-120.  i«  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclop,  v,  507. 


280         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

belongs  to  philosoj^hy,  and  not  to  the  department  of  historicity. 
Of  course,  it  is  the  legitimate  function  of  Christian  evidence  to 
traverse  the  past  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  a  subject 
of  historical  inquiry,  the  same  as  any  other  event  of  the  past, 
without  engaging  to  explain  the  miracle-power  by  which  it  was 
brought  to  pass. 

The  hind  of  evidence  which  one  has  a  right  to  expect  on 

an  historical  question  of  antiquity  should  be  carefully  noted  in 

the  outset.     IS'o  event  outside  of  science  can  be 

§  202.  The 

Evidence  treated  with  mathematical  proof.  The  resurrec- 
pp  ica  e.  ^^^^  -g  ^^^  ^^  event  to  which  mathematics  applies. 
Being  a  miraculous  occurrence  its  nature  can  not  be  explained 
by  reason.  For,  as  Schelling  has  remarked,  "  Nothing  is  more 
doleful  than  the  occupation  of  all  rationalists  who  strive  to 
make  that  rational  which  declares  itself  above  reason."  It 
does  not  address  itself  to  any  of  the  physical  senses  in  the  pres- 
ent time.  It  is  not  something  that  can  be  known  by  our  men- 
tal intuitions^  because  it  is  not  a  subject  to  be  contemplated  by 
the  common^  the  necessary^  and  spontaneous  perceptions  of  man- 
Icvnd^  which  are  the  characteristics  of  our  intuitions.  It 
claims  to  be  an  historical  truth,  and  is  to  be  investigated  as 
such  exclusively,  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  event  of  the  past. 
An  occurrence  which  by  its  own  force  has  wrought  such  deep 
and  enduring  conviction  in  the  minds  of  men  for  a  period  of 
nearly  twenty  centuries ;  which  all  the  scorn  and  persecution  of 
enemies  could  not  suppress ;  which  has  changed  the  course  of 
history  on  earth,  is  an  occurrence  of  paramount  importance  in 
history,  and  is  to  be  accounted  for  historically  on  the  principle 
of  reason  and  common  sense.  But  the  investigation  must  be 
conducted  in  the  interests  of  truth,  not  in  the  interests  of  pre- 
possessions or  a  priori  bias  of  mind,  or  the  inquiry  will  neces- 
sarily be  onesided  and  nugatory.  The  two  principal  theories 
of  the  negative  school  which  are  offered  in  lieu  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  will  now  command  attention. 


The  Resurkection  of  Jesus  Christ.  281 

I.  Thb  Theory  op  the  Swoon. 

Paulus  of  Heidelburg  is  prominent  among  those  who  have 
advocated  tliis  hypothesis.  In  substance  it  holds  to  the  view 
that  Jesus  did  not  actually  die  upon  the  cross,  as  §  203.  Theory 
all  the  Gospels  represent,  but  that,  through  his  of  Pa^iius. 
intense  sufferings  so  prolonged,  he  lost  consciousness  and  fell 
into  a  swoon,  which  lasted  three  days,  when  animation  re- 
turned— possibly  by  reason  of  the  sweet  spices  administered, 
which  restored  the  body  to  its  normal  condition.  It  is  further 
maintained  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid  in  the  rock-hewn 
cave,  but  upon  recovering  consciousness,  in  some  unknown 
way,  he  escaped  death  and  the  guard,  and  went  unaided  to 
his  friends  and  their  tender  ministries.  He  lingered  awhile 
in  obscurity,  and  finally  died  a  natural  death,  and  was  buried 
privately  by  friends. 

In  all  this,  Paulus  believed  that  something  did  happen  ac- 
cording to  the  Gospels,  but  discredits  the  Gospel  account  because 
of  this  stupendous  miracle !  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  hy- 
pothesis is  an  admirable  piece  of  imagination,  although  utterly 
destitute  of  historical  proof.  Its  chief  fallacy  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  assumes  to  be  true  that  which  remains  to  be  proved. 
Moreover,  the  theory  encounters  insuperable  difficulties.  It 
fails  to  account  for  all  the  phenomena  involved  in  the  case. 
It  ignores  the  statement  of  Matthew  that  Pilate  was  amazed 
that  Jesus  had  died  so  soon,  and  the  procurator  would  not  sur- 
render his  body  even  to  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  a  Sanhedrist, 
without  first  dispatching  his  own  military  officer  of  the  day 
to  ascertain  the  fact  of  his  death,  and  report  the  same  to  him- 
self in  person.  It  ignores  the  statement  of  Mark,  that  when 
Pilate  received  the  centurion's  confirmation  that  Jesus  loas 
dead,  he  granted  " the  dead  'body''''  *  to  Joseph  for  interment.  It 
fails  to  explain  how  a  man  who  had  endured  for  six  hours 
the  mortal  agonies  on  the  cross,  spiked  through  the  hands  and 

*'7rTu>/jLa,  expressly  a  dead  body,  a  corpse. 


282         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

feet,  his  heart  ;pierced  through  by  the  soldier's  spear,  with  the 
necessary  loss  of  blood  and  vitality,  would  swoon  away  rather 
than  die^  then  recover  consciousness,  and,  when  weak  and  help- 
less and  alone,  could  hreak  the  procurator's  seal  and  roll  hack 
the  great  stone  at  the  door  of  the  sepulcher  which  imprisoned 
him,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  armed  military  guard,  especially 
appointed  to  keep  the  hody  in  its  custody,  escape  to  his  friends 
unseen.  It  fails  to  account  for  that  perfect  and  profound  con- 
viction,  not  transient  but  enduring,  that  his  followers  experi- 
enced when  they  were  suddenly  lifted  out  of  the  depths  of 
despondency  and  despair,  and  filled  with  a  deathless  hope, 
and  began  at  once  to  proclaim  the  risen  Jesus,  right  at  Jeru- 
salem where  he  had  just  been  crucified,  in  the  courts  of  the 
temple  to  the  people,  and  in  the  hall  of  the  rulers  before  the 
Sanhedrists  of  the  nation. 

The  notion  of  a  swoon  is  not  only  incompatible  with  the 
only  authentic  accounts  given,  but  is  without  any  authority 
whatever  from  any  ancient  history.  It  fails  completely  to  ac- 
count for  the  founding  and  continuance  of  the  Christian 
Church,  if  based  upon  a  known  falsehood;  for  if  Jesus  was 
then  and  afterwards  in  the  private  keeping  of  his  friends, 
they  must  have  known  that  the  claim  of  a  resurrection  was  a 
false  pretense,  and  his  claim  to  the  Messiaship  a  base  impos- 
ture. But  here  develops  a  change  of  base;  the  theory  of  a 
swoon  hecomes  displaced  hy  that  of  fraud. 

Strauss  voices  the  view  of  other  skeptics  on  this  point.  He 
says: 

"  It  is  impossible  that  a  being  who  had  stolen  half  dead  out  of  the 
sepulcher,  who  crept  about  weak,  wanting  medical  treatment,  who  re- 
quired bandaging,  strengthening,  and  nursing,  and  who  at  last  yielded 
to  his  sufferings,  could  have  given  to  the  disciples  the  impression  that 
he  was  a  Conqueror  over  death  and  the  grave,  the  Prince  of  Life— an 
impression  which  lay  at  the  basis  of  their  future  ministry.  Such  a 
resuscitation  could  only  have  weakened  the  impression  which  he  had 
made  upon  them  in  their  life  and  death ;  but  could  by  no  possibility 
have  changed  their  sorrow  into  enthusiasm,  have  elevated  their  rever- 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  283 

ence  into  worship."  ^^^  "The  historian  must  acknowledge  that  the  dis- 
ciples firmly  believed  that  Jesus  was  risen."  And  "the  fact  that  the 
Apostle  Paul  heard  from  the  mouth  of  Peter,  of  James,  and  of  othei'S 
besides,  that  Jesus  had  appeared  to  them ;  and  that  they  all,  and  also 
the  five  hundred,  were  absolutely  convinced  that  tliey  had  seen  Jesus 
living  after  he  had  died,  is  one  which  we  will  not  call  in  question."  i« 

Baur  insists  that — 

"History  must  hold  to  the  assertion  that  the  faith  of  the  disciples 
in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  was  a  fact,  and  indisputable.  It  is  on 
this  faith  only  that  Christianity  found  a  ground  solid  enough  to  erect 
upon  it  the  superstructure  of  its  whole  historic  development."  "Noth- 
ing but  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection  could  disperse  the  doubts  which 
threatened  to  drive  faith  into  the  eternal  night  of  death.  For  the  faith  of  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  became  the  most  solid  and  most  irrefutable  certainty,"  "^ 

Dr.  Ewald  speaks  the  final  word : 

"Nothing  is  historically  more  certain  than  that  Christ  rose  from 
the  dead,  and  appeared  to  his  own;  and  that  this  their  vision  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new,  higher  faith,  and  all  their  Christian  labors."  "^ 

It  must  be  admitted  that  they  who  think  that  the  Chris- 
tian faith  is  too  credulous,  should  be  careful  not  to  tax  too 
severely  our  credulity  in  their  theories,  instead  of  our  belief. 
It  is  too  much  to  ask  us  to  believe  that  which  exists  only  in 
their  own  imagination  to  be  historical,  being  unsupported  by 
sound  reason  or  foundation  in  fact.  Worse  than  all,  it  is  an 
explanation  which  fails  to  explain. 

II.  The  Theory  op  Hallucination. 
This  hypothesis  is  more  commonly  known  as  "  The  Vision 
Theory^''  and  has  found  a  wider  acceptance  by  those  of  the 
skeptical  school  than  the  theory  of  the  swoon.      ^^^  ^^^ 
It  postulates  that  the   reappearances  of    Jesus    Prevamng 
alive  after  his  death  were  merely  subjective  to 
the  minds  of  his  friends,  but  were   without   any  ohjectvae 
reality  in  fact.    In  other  words,  it  was  all  merely  an  imaginary 

»«  New  Life  of  Jesus  1,  412.  i«  Leben  Jesu,  1864,  p.  289. 

^*^  First  Three  Centuries,  Vol.  I,  39-42. 
^«Hist.  of  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  VI,  52,  69,  el  seq. 


284  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

illusion,  an  hallucination  of  the  mind  due  to  the  intensely 
morbid  condition  of  the  friends  of  Jesus  in  their  anguish  after 
his  crucifixion,  when  their  sensitive  souls  were  thrilled  with 
the  expectancy  of  seeing  him  alive  again,  Kenan  refers  the 
Avhole  story  of  his  being  seen  alive  again  to  the  authority  of 
Mary  Magdalene,  who,  with  the  glow  of  a  fictionist  exclaims : 
"Divine  power  of  love!  Sacred  moments  when  the  passion 
of  a  woman  under  hallucination  gives  the  world  a  God  re- 
stored from  the  dead !"  This  view  of  the  Magdalene  was  first 
hinted  by  Celsus*  in  the  second  century;  but  it  was  afterward 
revived  and  modified  by  the  philosophical  Jew  named  Spi- 
noza; and  more  recently  it  was  developed  by  Strauss,  Renan, 
and  in  England,  by  the  author  of  the  work  entitled  Super- 
natural Religion.  Strauss  refers  the  origin  of  the  account  of 
the  resurrection  to  the  vision  of  the  apostles  in  the  region  of 
Galilee,  but  Renan  refers  it  to  Mary  Magdalene  at  the  tomb 
of  Jesus  at  Jerusalem. 

In  order  to  postulate  the  theory  of  self-delusion,  it  is  abso- 
lutely neccessary  to  discredit  the  evidence  of  the  senses^  with  all 
the  conclusions  which  they  leqitimate  in  our  con- 

8  205.  The  . 

Theory  and  its  sciousness.  For  the  witnesscs  of  his  resurrection 
ri  icism.  ^^  solemnly  affirm  that  Jesus  Christ  did  rise 
frrnn  the  dead:  "  Whereof  we  are  all  witnesses.''''  They  afiirm 
this  upon  the  evidence  of  the  three  senses — sight,  hearing, 
and  touch — the  very  senses  by  which  we  cognize  personality 
and  the  occurrence  of  events  everywhere  in  the  common 
course  of  life.  In  courts  of  law  the  senses  of  the  witnesses 
are  regarded  as  being  as  absolutely  reliable  as  are  our  own. 
It  is  upon  the  evidence  of  what  the  witnesses  have  seen  and 
heard  directly  in  the  case  involved,  and  therefore  know,  that 
criminals  have  been  condemned  to  the  dungeon  and  the  scaf- 
fold in  all  the  centuries  of  the  civilizations.  If  one  should 
dare  to  distrust  the  evidences  of  his  own  senses,  he  would  fur- 

*Celsus,  speaking  of  Christ  exhibiting  his  wounda,  says:  "Who  beheld 
this?  A  half-frantic  woman  as  you  state"  (in  the  Gospels).  (Ortgen  contra 
Celsum,  11,  69.) 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  285 

nish  the  best  evidence  of  his  inanity  or  insanity.  If  we  have 
the  absolute  right  to  claim  the  evidence  of  our  sense-intuitions 
for  ourselves,  so  have  others  the  absolute  right  to  claim  it  for 
themselves.  We  can  not  deny  their  claim.  Is  it  not  a  violent 
presumption  which  attempts  to  set  aside,  without  the  slightest 
proof  of  abnormal  mind,  the  conscious  convictions  of  more 
than  five  hundred  sensible  witnesses  to  any  given  fact? 
"Would  this  assumption  and  presumption  be  countenanced  for 
one  moment  in  any  civil  court?  Would  this  postulate  be  at- 
tempted in  any  other  case  than  that  of  Christ's  rising,  or 
even  in  that,  but  with  a  view  of  escaping  the  miracle  of  the 
resurrection^  and  all  that  that  necessitates?  Wisely  does  Dr. 
Yan  Oosterzee  remark: 

"  We  feel  how  boundless  is  the  caprice  which  would  i-emove  the  glo- 
rious solution  from  the  history  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  transfer  it  hence- 
forth to  the  history  of  the  apostles  and  their  self-deception  !"^** 

Upon  the  other  hand,  this  hypothesis  is  itself  beset  with 
difficulties  insuperable.  Its  character  is  such  that  it  can  com- 
mand credence  with  only  that  class  of  persons  who  are  super- 
stitious enough  to  believe  in  seeing  ghosts.  This  certainly  de- 
mands a  stretch  of  credulity  too  exorbitant  to  find  acceptance 
on  the  part  of  persons  of  intelligence  and  good  sense.  The  hy- 
pothesis is  put  at  unqualified  disadvantage  when  offered  as  a 
substitute  for  the  faith  which  we  repose  in  the  supreme  fact 
of  a  risen  Redeemer.  Does  it  not  border  on  insane  credulity 
to  believe  that  "more  than  five  hundred"  persons  in  the 
mountains  of  Galilee  were  suddenly  seized  with  a  mania,  all 
at  the  same  time,  in  thinking  that  they  saw  the  same  specter ; 
that  the  delusion  began  at  a  distinct  date,  continued  just  forty 
days,  and  then  ceased  forever  as  suddenly  as  it  began — an 
hypothesis  which  is  without  a  parallel  in  all  the  superstitious 
stories  of  ghost-seeing?  Moreover,  we  are  asked  to  believe 
that  this  mental  hallucination  extended  itself  so  as  to  com- 


1"  Dogmatics,  11,  569. 


286         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

mand  the  credence  of  multitudes  of  others ;  that  the  Christian 
Church,  with  all  its  code  of  moral  and  spiritual  requirements, 
and  all  its  experience  in  spiritual  development  among  the  mil- 
lions of  mankind  through  nearly  two  thousand  years  since — 
a  Church  composed  of  the  wisest  and  best  portions  of  all  the 
civilizations — is  founded  on  the  merest  delusion !  Nor  is  it  to 
be  rationally  believed  that  at  the  outset  the  Jews,  who  in 
their  fierce  instigation  crucified  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  should 
become  converted  to  the  faith  by  the  thousand  within  a  few 
days,"^  and  a  large  company  of  the  priests  become  deluded 
into  an  "obedience  to  the  faith." ^* 

The  hypothesis  fails  at  the  initial  point  of  Christianity,  as 
it  fails  to  account  for  the  existence  and  continuance  of  the 
Christian  Church.  On  the  historical  side  of  this  question,  how 
does  the  theory  of  vision  explain  what  became  of  the  body  of 
Jesus?  The  empty  sepulcher  demands  an  explanation  on  the 
part  of  those  who  have  ignored  it  in  their  theory.  That  the 
body  of  Jesus  was  duly  sepulchered  in  the  tomb  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  is  a  matter  of  history,  and  stands  undisputed. 
How  did  it  escape  the  vigilance  of  the  military  guard,  and 
what  became  of  it  after  it  passed  from  their  custody  ?  The 
advocates  of  this  theory  must  account  for  all  the  phenomena 
involved  in  the  case.  Either  the  body  of  Jesus  remained  in 
the  tomb,  or  it  was  removed  by  human  hands,  or  it  arose  from 
the  dead.  If  it  remained,  why  did  not  the  Jewish  Sanhedrists 
produce  it,  and  boldly  refute  the  bolder  claim  of  the  apostles 
when  they  were  arraigned  before  the  Council  and  unhesitat- 
ingly affirmed,  "  The  God  of  our  fathers  raised  up  Jesus  whom 
ye  crucified.  ,  .  .  Him  hath  God  exalted  with  his  own 
right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  Savior  ?"^^^  If  the  body  was 
removed  by  friends,  the  apostles,  in  preaching  his  rising  as  a 
fundamental  fact  to  the  Christian  religion,  were  guilty  of  the 
basest  duplicity  and  imposture,  and  they  knew  it  to  be  so. 
But  to  maintain  this  is  to  confess  that  the  theory  of  the  delu- 


i«  Acts  11,  41.  >«>/&.  vl,  7.  1"  lb,  V,  30,  31. 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  287 

sion  has  failed,  and  given  place  to  the  theory  of  fraud.     As 
Dr.  Schaff  justly  remarks : 

"  The  Vision  hypothesis,  instead  of  getting  rid  of  the  miracle,  only 
shifts  it  from  fact  to  fiction  ;  it  makes  an  empty  delusion  more  powerful 
than  the  truth,  or  turns  all  history  into  delusion.  Before  we  can  reason 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  out  of  history  we  must  reason  the  apostles 
and  Christianity  out  of  existence.  We  must  either  admit  the  miracle 
or  frankly  confess  that  we  stand  before  an  inexplicable  mystery." 
"This  illusion  we  are  expected  to  believe  by  these  unbelievers,  gave 
birth  to  the  most  real  and  most  mighty  of  all  facts,  the  Christian  Church, 
which  has  lasted  these  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  is  now  spread  all 
over  the  civilized  world,  embracing  more  members  than  ever,  and  exer- 
cising more  moral  power  than  all  other  religions  combined."  ^^^ 

Certainly  it  can  not  be  claimed  that  the  delusion  supposed 
could  have  been  due  to  the  favorable  predisposition  and  antici- 
pation of  the  apostles.  The  plain  record  relied  upon  renders 
that  proposition  utterly  untenable.  When  the  Magdalene 
went  alone  and  reported  to  the  apostles  that  she  had  seen 
Jesus  alive,  they  only  "mourned  and  wept,"  and  "they  be- 
lieved not."  When  the  women  went  together  and  "  told  these 
things  unto  the  apostles,  their  words  seemed  to  them  as  idle 
tales,  and  they  believed  them  not."  When  Jesus  "  appeared 
unto  the  eleven  as  they  sat  at  meat"  he  "upbraided  them 
with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart  because  they  believed 
not  them  which  had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen."  When  all 
the  apostles  in  their  turn  told  Thomas,  "We  have  seen 
the  Lord,"  Thomas  replied,  "  Except  I  shall  see  in  his  hands 
tl^e  print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  print  of  the 
nails,  ...  I  will  not  believe."  And  even  after  this,  when 
Jesus  was  seen  by  the  multitude  in  the  mountain  in  Galilee, 
"some  doubted."  Evidently  these  facts  and  this  language  do 
not  admit,  but  are  absolutely  destructive  of,  the  theory  that 
delusion  arose  out  of  the  expectation  of  the  apostles  that 
Jesus  would  rise  from  the  sepulcher  of  death. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  these  witnesses  had  opportunity 
under  every  variety  of  circumstances  to  see  and  test  the  reality 

162  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1,  p.  183. 
19 


288         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  the  risen  Jesus;  for  he  is  recorded  as  seen  by  witnesses; 
some  at  a  distance,  but  of tener  close  at  hand ;  sometimes  in- 
dividually by  persons  alone,  but  oftener  by  small  gatherings, 
as  the  apostles,  or  by  the  great  multitude  together.  He  was 
seen  in  the  light  of  the  early  morning,  as  by  Mary  Magdalene 
at  the  sepulcher;  he  was  seen  in  the  brightness  of  the  noonday 
sun,  as  by  Paul  journeying  to  Damascus;  he  was  seen  toward 
the  close  of  the  afternoon,  as  by  the  two  who  talked  with  him 
on  the  way  to  Emmaus ;  he  was  seen  under  the  cover  of  night, 
as  by  the  apostles  as  they  sat  at  meat  in  Jerusalem ;  he  was 
seen  by  the  disciples  at  their  nets  at  the  seaside,  by  the  multi- 
tude on  the  mountains  of  Galilee,  by  two  of  the  Seventy  in  the 
country  on  the  public  highway,  as  well  as  in  the  city  full,  by 
those  who  had  not  rejected  him ;  and  by  all  in  the  nearest 
possible  personal  relations.  Their  sight  was  confirmed  by  the 
sense  of  touch,  for  some  came  and  held  him  by  the  feet.  He 
himself  said  to  his  disciples :  "  Behold  my  hands  and  my  feet 
that  it  is  I  myself ;  handle  me  and  see ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not 
flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have.  And  when  he  said  this,  he 
showed  them  his  hands  and  his  feet."  But  he  was  cognized 
not  only  by  the  sight  of  their  eyes,  but  also  his  voice  was 
heard  by  their  ears.  For  altogether  unlike  the  stories  of  the 
silent  specters,  there  were  occasions  when  he  conversed  famil- 
iarly and  at  great  length  with  his  friends,  at  once  demonstrat- 
ing the  fact  of  his  resurrection  and  teaching  them  the  special 
significance  of  his  rising  in  its  relation  to  the  future  Church, 
"  speaking  to  them  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of 
God."  And  withal  Jesus  ate  fish  in  the  presence  of  his 
disciples,  to  identify  himself  to  their  fullest  recognition ;  and 
he  ate  at  the  table  with  his  disciples,  as  in  the  old-time  fellow- 
ship of  his  ministry.  So  that  these  witnesses  tested  and  at- 
tested without  hesitation  or  qualification : 

"Him  God  raised  up  on  the  third  day,  and  showed  him  openly,  not 
to  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses  chosen  of  God,  even  to  usi  who  did 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  289 

eat  and  drink  with  him  after  lie  rose  from  the  dead}^  For  "  He  was  seen 
many  days  of  them  that  came  up  with  him  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who 
were  witnesses  unto  the  people."  ^" 

So  that  it  is  conclusive  that  Jesus  was  seen  alive  after  his 
death,  not  by  one  single  person  alone,  or  by  merely  one 
class  of  persons  apart,  or  on  one  transient  occasion,  or  on  many 
transient  occasions,  but  often  and  continuously,  and  by  as 
many  as  a  great  multitude,  and  for  a  period  of  forty  days. 

The  eminent  Bishop  Westcott  pointedly  remarks : 

"The  ground  on  which  the  apostles  rested  their  appeal  was  the  res- 
urrection ;  the  function  which  they  claimed  for  themselves  was  to  bear 
witness  to  it.  Their  belief  was  not  an  idle  assent,  but  the  spring  of  a 
new  life.  And  the  belief  itself  was  of  a  new  kind.  It  was  not  like  the 
aCfectionate  credulity  with  which  an  oppressed  state  or  party  believes  in 
the  reappearance  of  a  lost  leader.  It  was  a  confession  of  error  before 
it  was  an  assei-tion  of  faith.  It  involved  a  renunciation  of  popular 
dogmas  in  which  those  who  held  it  had  been  reared.  It  proclaimed  a 
truth  altogether  new  and  unlike  any  which  men  had  held  before.  If 
ever  the  idea  of  delusion  can  be  excluded,  it  must  be  in  a  case  when  it  is 
alleged  to  explain  a  conviction  which  transformed  at  once  the  cherished 
opinions  of  a  large  body  of  men  of  various  characters  and  powers,  for 
which  outwardly  they  had  no  inclination  or  advantage."^" 

The  eminent  Dr.  Keim,  who  once  advocated  this  theory  in 
a  modified  form,  afterward  stated : 

"  The  unhesitating  denial  of  the  resurrection  in  spite  of  the  serious 
difficulties  which  exist  in  conflict  with  the  belief  of  so  many  among  the 
laity,  is  the  fruit  of  neither  a  scientific  nor  a  religious  conscience.  We  are 
not  able  to  comprehend  how  the  Christian  Church,  with  all  its  clearness 
of  mind,  with  all  its  earnestness  of  moral  purpose,  could  have  been 
founded  as  the  result  of  an  overexcited  vision." 

To  this  Dr.  Schaff  adds  this  further  testimony : 

"  In  his  last  word  on  the  great  problem,  Keim,  in  view  of  the  ex- 
haustion and  failure  of  the  natural  explanations  [of  the  resurrection], 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  we  must  either  humbly  confess  our  igno- 
rance or  return  to  the  faith  of  the  apostles  who  have  seen  the  Lord."  "* 


163  A.cts  X,  40,  41.       164  lb,  xUi,  31.       iw  Qospel  of  the  Resurrection,  p.  124. 
166  See  Schaff's  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  I,  p.  185. 


290         Historical  Evidence  of  the  JS^ew  Testament. 

It  is  related  of  Cardinal  Talleyrand,  of  Paris,  that  he  Avas 
once  approached  by  Larevelliere-Lepeaux,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  French  Directory,  a  Deistical  philanthropist,  who  was 
the  originator  of  a  new  religion  to  displace  Christianity;  but 
to  his  great  disappointment  he  could  not  get  his  propaganda 
introduced.  He  sought  counsel  of  the  cardinal,  who  seemed 
to  condole  with  him,  but  said  that  the  introduction  of  a  new 
religion  was  no  easy  task.  The  polite  but  shrewd  cardinal 
hesitatingly  suggested  that  there  remained  one  thing  which 
would  give  hope  of  success.  "What  is  it?"  said  Lepeaux. 
"  It  is  this, "  replied  the  cardinal :  "  Go  and  be  crucified,  then 
be  buried,  and  then  rise  again  on  the  third  day ;  and  then  go 
right  on  working  miracles — raising  the  dead,  healing  all  man- 
ner of  diseases,  and  casting  out  demons,  and  possibly  you 
might  succeed!"  The  proposition  had  the  suggestive  effect, 
and  he  left  the  cardinal  in  silence. 

III.  The  Witness  op  Modern  Skeptics. 

The  following  concessions  touching  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
made  by  modern  skeptics  have  their  evidential  value.  The 
several  authors  cited  are  recognized  as  of  the  foremost  scholarly 
critics  of  the  negative  school;  and  the  perfect  candor  with 
which  they  treat  the  subject  entitles  the  Avriters  to  profound 
respect. 

Dr.    Theodore   Keim,  of  Zurich,  whose  Life  of   Christ  is 
§206.  conces-  regarded   as  altogether  the  best  production  em- 
Dr!°Keiin.     anating   from  the  school  of  Freethinkers,  says : 

"  After  all  these  considerations,  we  shall  have  to  admit  that  the  re- 
cent and  strongly-favored  theory  is  nothing  but  an  hypothesis  which  ex- 
plains some  things,  but  leaves  the  main  point  unexplained,  even  as  the 
main  facts  which  have  been  historically  subjected  to  wrong  and  weak 
points  of  view.  But  if  the  attempt  equally  fails  to  maintain  the  tradi- 
tional history  of  the  resurrection  ;  if  the  attempt  by  means  of  visions  of  St. 
Paul  fails  to  build  up  a  natural  explanation  of  things  which  happened, — 
there  remains  for  history  no  other  way  than  the  admission  that  the 
voluble  statements  of  the  legendary  history,  and  the  dark  brevity  of  the 
authentic  history,  do  not  allow  us  to  establish  a  certain  invincible  result 


The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  291 

of  the  enigmatical  termination  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  however  important 
they  may  have  been  in  themselves  and  in  their  influence  upon  universal 
history.  For  the  benefit  of  history,  in  so  far  as  it  calculates  with 
known  factors  and  with  a  series  of  tangible  recognized  causes  and  effects, 
there  exists  the  undoubted  fact,  only  the  firm  faith  of  the  apostles  that 
Jesus  has  risen,  and  the  immense  effect  by  this  faith,  namely,  the  con- 
version of  mankind."  ^*' 

Dr.  Geore:  Heinrich  August  von  Ewald,  of  „  „^„  ^ 

o  o  '     _     §207.  Conces- 

Gottingen  (died  1875),  in  History  of  the  Apostolic        sion  of 
Age^  held  that  Christ's  resurrection  Avas  wholly 
spirittial,  a  continuous   manifestation  of   him,  whatever  that 
may  mean.     He  says : 

^'Nothing  is  historically  more  certain  than  that  Christ  rose  from  the 
dead,  and  appeared  to  his  own ;  and  that  this  their  vision  was  the  begin- 
ning of  their  higher  faith  and  of  all  their  Christian  labors."  "  But  it  is 
just  as  certain  that  they  saw  him  again — not  as  an  ordinary  man,  or  as  a 
shadow  rising  out  of  the  grave,  or  as  a  ghost,  as  the  legend  tells  us  of 
such — but  as  the  only  Son  of  God  ;  as  an  absolutely  superior  and  supreme 
Being ;  and  that  wiien  thinking  of  the  past  they  could  not  imagine  other- 
wise than  that  whoever  was  favoi-ed  to  see  him  again,  had  also  imme- 
diately recognized  his  sole  Divine  dignity,  and  that  they  have  firmly 
believed  on  him.  But  as  the  true  King  and  Son  of  God,  the  Twelve  and 
others  had  already  learned  to  know  him  during  his  lifetime ;  the  only 
difference  being  that  they  now  recollect  him  also  in  i-egard  to  his  purely 
Divine  side,  and  by  that  as  a  Conqueror  of  Death.  There  is,  conse- 
quently, after  all,  the  earthly  Christ  as  he  was  known  to  them  so  well, 
and  an  inner  relationship  between  that  usual  beholding  of  Jesus  and 
that  higher  rapturous  beholding  of  the  heavenly  Chx'ist ;  so  that  they 
would  not  have  recognized  him  even  in  these  first  dajs  and  weeks  after 
his  death  as  the  heavenly  Messiah,  had  they  not  known  hiin  previously 
so  well  as  the  earthly  one."  ^** 

Dr.  Daniel  Schenkel  of  Heidelburg,  when  advocating  the 
Vision  or   Hallucination   theory  of   a   real   but  „„^„  ^ 

■^  §208.  Conces- 

purely  spiritual  manifestation  of  Christ,  though  sion  of 
thoroughly  convinced  that  on  this  fact  rests  the 
institution  of  the  Christian  Church,  acknowledged  himself  un- 
able to  solve  the  problem  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  says : 
"  Never  will  historical  investigation  succeed  in  solving  the  enigma 
of  the  belief  in  the  resurrection.  But  nothing  is  more  sure  in  history 
than  the  fact  that  on  the  belief  in  this  rests  the  institution  of  the 
Christian  Church.    .    .    .    Over  against  this  hypothesis  of  visions  which 

•57  Geschichte  Jesu  von  Nazara,  ill,  600.    Keim  died  in  Qlessen  In  1879. 

^^^Hist.  of  the  Apostolic  Age  (Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  Vol.  VI,  52,  OS),  sqq.) 


292         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tries  to  explain  the  appearances  of  Christ  to  his  disciples  as  illusions  of 
the  senses,  having  their  origin  physical  and  therefore  psychical  in  the 
intensification  of  the  nervous  and  intellectual  life,  stands  especially  the 
keynote  of  the  mood  in  the  disciples,  especially  in  Peter — the  deep  sad- 
ness, very  humble  self-confidence,  the  lost  courage  for  life ;  how  from 
such  a  mood  proceeded  the  transfigured  image  of  the  resurrected  One, 
with  this  absolute  certainty  and  indestructible  joy  through  which  the 
belief  in  the  resurrection  was  able  to  firmly  maintain  the  Church  in  all 
storms  and  persecutions  ?"  ^^^ 

Dr.  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur,  of  Tiibingen,  who  is  called 
^^^r.  ^         "the  master-critic"  of  the  skeptical  Church  his^ 

§209.  Con-  ^ 

cession  of     torians,  and  "the  corypheus"  of  the  Tubingen 
school,  in  his  revised  edition  of  the  J^irst  Three 
Centuries^^  published  just  before  he  died  (in  1860),  says : 

"  Nothing  but  the  miracle  of  the  resurrection  could  disperse  the 
doubts  which  threatened  to  drive  faith  into  the  eternal  night  of  death." 
*  It  is  true  that  the  nature  of  the  resurrection  lies  outside  of  historical 
investigation,  .  .  .  for  to  the  faith  of  the  disciples  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  became  a  most  solid  and  most  irrefutable  certainty.  In  whatever 
light  we  may  consider  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  whether  as  an  actual 
objective  miracle  or  a  subjective  psychological  one,  even  granting  the 
possibility  of  such  a  miracle,  no  psychological  analysis  can  penetrate  the 
inner  spiritual  process  by  which,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  disciples, 
their  belief  at  the  death  of  Jesus  was  transformed  into  a  belief  of  his 
resurrection.  .  .  .  We  must  rest  satisfied  with  this:  that  for  them 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  a  fact  of  their  consciousness,  and  had  for 
them  all  the  reality  of  an  historical  event."  "  While  the  historical  crit- 
icism has  nothing  to  do  with  the  inquiry  concerning  what  the  resurrec- 
tion was  in  fact,  it  must  hold  fast  to  the  assei-tion  that,  in  the  belief  of 
the  first  disciples,  it  had  become  an  established  and  incontrovertible  cer- 
tainty. What  was  presupposed  as  the  essential  foundation  of  this  his- 
tory is  not  the  fact  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  but  that  it  was  be- 
lieved that  he  had  risen.  However  we  may  seek  to  explain  the  faith,  the 
resun-ection  of  Jesus  had  become  to  the  first  Christians  a  fact  of  convic- 
tion, and  had  for  them  all  the  reality  of  an  historical  fact." 

In  consideration  of  the  failure  of  these  efforts  to  explain 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  on  mere  natural  principles,  the  force 

6  210  The     ^^^  truth  expressed  by  Beyschlag  is  sufficiently 

Close.       manifest:  "It  is  infinitely  easier  to  admit  that 

the  Christian  Church  is  the  offspring  of  a  miracle  than  to 

imagine  it  to  be  born  of  a  lie."     Upon  the  other  hand,  the 

159  Characterbild  Jesu,  p.  231,  sqq.,  1864. 

lao  Oeschichte  der  Christ.  Kirche,  Band  1,  8. SO,  f.  (Vol.  I,  pp.  .'JO,  48,  42). 


The  Resukrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  293 

intelligent  and  thoughtful  mind  must  ever  be  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  the  utter  futility,  not  to  say  frivolity,  of  attempting 
to  found  Christianity  upon  a  swoon,  or  a  delusion,  and  thence 
perpetuated  itself  with  such  high  character  and  great  princi- 
ples for  living,  amidst  the  fiercest  oppositions  of  every  kind, 
down  through  the  centuries.  Now,  in  consideration  of  what 
the  Christian  system  is  in  itself,  and  what  it  teaches,  enjoins, 
and  enforces  upon  those  who  embrace  it ;  of  the  place  and 
power  which  it  has  attained  and  maintained  among  the  best 
and  foremost  civilizations  of  the  world ;  how  it  has  introduced 
a  new  course  of  history  for  mankind ;  how  its  principles  have 
gained  credence  and  become  incorporated  into  the  best  gov- 
ernments of  the  most  advanced  nations  of  the  earth,  modifying 
the  horrors  of  war,  bringing  honor  and  prosperity  in  times  of 
peace,  enforcing  equity  and  uprightness  between  man  and  man 
in  society,  giving  happiness  in  the  relations  of  the  family  in 
the  home,  enjoining  purity  of  character  and  life  upon  the  indi- 
vidual, imparting  a  strengthening  with  noble  courage  to  meet 
the  severest  trials  in  our  probation,  and  withal,  inspiring  in  the 
Christian  an  imperishable  hope  of  the  immortal  life  beyond 
death, — these  considerations  legitimate  the  induction  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  founded,  not  upon  an  imaginary  swoon  or 
delusion,  but  upon  a  fact  and  truth  supreme,  that  its  Founder, 
Jesus  Christ,  must  have  risen,  and  actually  did  rise  from  the 
dead — an  event  proportionate  with  such  results — as  is  afiirmed 
by  the  apostles  who  saw  him  alive  again,  and  has  ever  been 
steadfastly  believed  by  all  Christians  in  all  Christendom. 

1 .  The  negation  of  his  resurrection  raises  greater  difficulties 

than  the  miracle  itself. 

2.  This  supernatural  event  has  never  been  refuted  by  adver- 

saries on  historical  grounds. 

3.  The  admission  of  his  resurrection  renders  easy  the  admis- 

sion of  other  miracles  also. 

4.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  opens  the  gates  of  immortality 

to  all  believers  in  Christ. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  ASCENSION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

1.  The  Scriptural  Representations  of  the  Ascension. 

2.  The  Fact  either  Conceded  or  Affirmed  by  Adversaries. 

By  Rabbinical  Writers:  the  Targum,  Talmud,  and  Toledoth  Jeshu. 
By  Roman  Writers  who  affirm  it:  Hierocles  and  Porphyry. 

3.  The  Event  Perpetuated  later  Historically  in  Current  Literature. 

By  the  Ancient  Fathers:  Barnabas,  Polycarp,  and  Irenxus. 

By  Christian  Apologists:  Aristides,  Justin,  Melito,  and  Tertullian, 

4.  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles  respecting  the  Ascension. 

By  Paul  in  his  First  Four  Epistles. 

By  the  Apostle  John  in  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

5.  An  Analysis  op  the  Evidence  Adduced,  and  the  Conclusion. 

295 


Chapter  XI. 
THE  ASCENSION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

8211.    Soiirces:  Biographical  Epitome,  and  Literature 

1.  Melito  (A.  D.  170)  was  Bishop  of  Sardis,  the  ancient  capital  of  Lydia, 
in  Asia  Minor.  When  he  was  made  bishop  is  unknown  ;  but  after 
the  death  of  Aurelius  Verus  (169),  Melito  addressed  an  Apology  to 
the  Emperor  Marcus  Antoninus  (reigned  161-180).  But  little  is 
known  of  his  life ;  yet  for  many  years  he  was  the  contemporary 
of  Polycarp.  Tertullian  refers  to  his  "elegant  and  oi'atorical 
genius." 

In  order  to  secure  a  thoroughly-authenticated  catalogue  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  he  visited  Palestine  and  its  various 
localities,  where  prophetic  utterances  first  found  expression,  and 
where  facts  occurred  in  fulfillment  of  the  prophecies.  Melito 
says  that  one  Onesimus,  who  was  a  Christian,  requested  him  "to 
make  selections  for  him  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  concern- 
ing the  Savior  and  the  Christian  faith,  as  he  desired  to  learn  accu- 
rately the  account  of  the  old  books,  and  having  therefore  gone  to 
the  East  and  reached  the  spot  where  [everything]  was  preached 
and  done,  and  having  learned  accurately  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, I  have  sent  a  list  of  them."  (Westcott,  Canon,  221.)  This 
catalogue  is  cited  in  detail  in  Eusebius  (Eccl.  Hist,  iv,  c.  26).  From 
a  rediscovered  Syriac  document  containing  Melito's  treatise  on 
Faith,  translated  by  Dr.  Cureton,  the  original  of  which  is  in  the 
British  Museum,  we  have  the  Confession  of  this  period: 

"We  have  made  collections  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets 
relative  to  those  things  which  have  been  declared  respecting  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  .  who  in  David  and  the  prophets  fore- 
told his  own  sufferings  ;  who  was  incarnate  in  the  Virgin,  who  was 
bom  in  Bethlehem,  who  was  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  in  a 
manger,  who  was  seen  of  the  shepherds,  who  was  glorified  by 
angels,  who  was  worshiped  by  the  Magi,  who  was  pointed  out  by 
John  [the  Baptist],  who  assembled  the  apostles,  who  preached  the 
Kingdom,  who  healed  the  maimed,  who  gave  light  to  the  blind, 
who  raised  the  dead,  who  appeared  in  the  temple,  who  was  be- 
lieved on  by  the  people,  who  was  betrayed  by  Judas,  who  was  laid 
hold  on  by  the  priests,  who  was  condemned  by  Pilate,  who  was 

297 


298         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

pierced  in  the  flesh,  who  was  hanged  on  the  tree,  who  was  buried 
in  the  earth,  who  rose  from  the  dead,  who  appeared  to  the 
apostles,  who  ascended  to  heaven,  who  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father,  .  .  .  who  is  God,  the  Son  who  is  of  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ,  the  King  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."  (West.  Canon, 
224-226.) 

§212.    Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Had  nothing  been  told  us  about  the  fortieth  day,  we  should  not  need  to 
doubt  that  He  lived  glorified  above  ;  but  now  we  know  from  trust- 
worthy sources  that  he  was  exalted.  We  have  no  single  reason  to 
reject  with  distrust  this  satisfactory  conclusion  to  the  history  of 
his  earthly  life. — Van  Oosterzee. 

The  ascension  of  the  Lord  forms  the  close  of  the  resurrection,  and  the 
perfecting  expression  and  act  of  exaltation. — Martensen. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  close  of  the  last  vision  which  was  common  to  all 
the  apostles  when  he  delivered  to  them  his  last  commands,  Jesus 
should  be  taken  up  into  heaven. — Renan. 

'ETTio-Tev^rj  iv  K6(7n(fi,  dpe\^(pdri  iv  d6^r] — Believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up 
into  glory. — Paul. 

This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up  whereof  we  all  are  witnesses ;  wherefore 
being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of 
the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  hath  shed  forth  this 
which  ye  do  see  and  hear.  For  David  is  not  ascended  into  the 
heavens,  but  he  saith  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand 
until  I  make  thy  foes  thy  footstool. — Peter. 

ARGUMENT. 

The  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Jesus  are  distinct  facts  in  themselves, 
yet  are  they  so  interrelated  in  nature  and  doctrine  as  to  be  re- 
garded as  inseparable.  This  is  clearly  discernible  in  the  history 
of  our  Lord's  earthly  existence,  as  it  is  also  in  thought  in  the 
system  of  Christian  truth.  The  apostles  place  the  two  events  to- 
gether in  equal  prominence  and  side  by  side  in  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  Christianity.  His  resurrection  from  the  dead  having  been 
known  as  miraculous,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  his  ascension 
naturally  follows  and  is  necessitated. 

In  the  upward  path  of  progress  in  the  revelation  of  himself 
from  his  estate  of  humiliation  to  that  of  his  exaltation,  his  rising 
from  death  to  life  marks  the  first  stage;  and  his  ascension  on  high 
marks  the  transitional  period  in  his  passage  between  earth  and 
heaven  in  his  return  to  the  Father,  from  his  redemptive  work  ac- 
complished to  that  of  intercession,  and  marks  the  second  stage; 
while  the  third  is  that  realized  when  Jesus  assumed  the  place  of 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  299 

power  and  royalty  upon  his  indestructible  throne  as  "  King,  eter- 
nal, IMMORTAL,  INVISIBLE,  THE   ONLY  WISE   GoD."  ^      It   iS    thuS   that 

the  ascension  serves  as  a  connecting  link  in  the  chain  of  events 
which  at  once  reveals  his  supreme  nature,  his  authority,  and  his 
glory  with  the  Father.  And  as  his  resurrection  furnished  ample 
opportunity  for  his  identification  to  believers  as  being  that  same 
One  who  was  crucified  and  was  dead  and  buried,  so  his  ascension 
into  heaven  serves  to  illustrate  his  identification  in  second  com- 
ing, both  in  fact  and  method,  when  "  this  same  Jesus  who  was 
taken  up  from  you  into  heaven  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye 
have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."^  So  that  his  return  to  earth  in 
judgment  at  the  end  of  the  world  is  not  only  the  sequel  of  his 
ascending  to  heaven,  but  completes  the  circle  of  his  prerogatives 
as  "the  Christ  according  to  the  flesh,  who  is    over  all,  God 

BLESSED  for  EVERMORE.      AmEN."  ^ 

1.  The  Scriptural  Representations  of  the  Ascension. 

2.  The  Fact  conceded  and  affirmed  by  Adversaries. 

3.  Its  Truth  perpetuated  in  the  Current  Histoi-y. 

4.  The  Case  defended  by  the  Christian  Apologists. 

5.  The  Apostolic  Teaching  respecting  the  Ascension. 

6.  A  Summing  Up  on  all  the  Testimonies  here  adduced. 

An  epitome  of  what  is  said  in  the  Scriptures  by  Jesus 
respecting  his  ascension  may  helpfully  precede  and  furnish  the 
fact  itself  which   is  to  be  proved.     Matthew,  „„,„  „^    ^. 

^  _  '   §213.  The  Wit- 

though  silent  as  regards  the  one  circumstance    ness  of  jesus 

that  J  esus  ascended  on  the  fortieth  day  after  his 

rising,   when   "a  cloud  received  him  out    of    their  sight," 

records  other  facts  in  which  this  is  conveyed  by  necessary 

implication.     This  is  brought  clearly  to  view  in  his  report  of 

the  controversy  which  he  had  with  the  Pharisees,  when  the 

Lord  asked  them : 

"  How  then  doth  David  in  Spirit  call  Him  Lord,  saying.  The  Lord 
said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  till  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool ?" *  To  his  disciples  Jesus  said:  "Then  shall  appear  the 
sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven,  .  .  .  and  they  shall  see  the  Son 
of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with  power  and  gi-eat  glory,"  ^ 
"  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him  ;  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of 
His  glory."  ^  Again  in  the  Sanhedrin,  Caiaphas  the  high  priest,  said 
unto  Jesus  :  "  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God  that  thou  tell  us  whether 


ilTlm.  1, 17.  2  Acts  1,11-  sRom.lx,  5. 

*  Matt,  xxil,  43,  44.  6/6.  xxiv,  30.  «/6.  xxv,  31. 


300         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  hast 
said.  Nevertheless,  I  say  unto  you,  Hereafter  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of 
man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven !' '  ^ 

There  was  special  significance  in  Christ's  mentioning  before 
the  Jewish  Senate  that  hereafter  he  would  occupy  the  place 
of  power,  '■''coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.''''  To  their  knowing 
minds  it  was  a  distinct  claim  that  he  was  the  realization  of 
Daniel's  prediction.^  So  that  if  the  circumstance  which  char- 
acterized the  great  day  of  Christ's  departure  from  earth  is  not 
remarked  by  this  Evangelist,  his  return  from  heaven  to  earth 
"  in  power  and  great  glory "  is  specially  and  certainly  set  forth 
by  Matthew  with  suflBcient  explicitness  and  distinction.  Dr^ 
Neander  observes : 

"Even  if  none  of  the  apostolic  writers  had  mentioned  this  visible 
and  real  fact,  we  might  have  safely  inferred  from  all  that  they  say 
of  Christ,  that,  in  some  form  or  other,  the-^  presupposed  b.  supernatural 
exaltation  from  this  visible  earthly  world."  ^ 

Mark's  statement  respecting  the  ascension  of  Christ  is 
exceedinfflv  brief  and   pointed.     He  compresses 

§214.  Witness    .  °\  /.  .  ,    .. 

of  the  other    mto  a  Single  sentence  his  entire  deliverance  on 
Evangeusts.    ^^^  sublime  event  which  closed  the  earthly  life 
and  history  of  our  Lord.     It  is  this : 

"So  then  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  he  had  spoken  unto  them,  was  re- 
ceived up  into  heaven,  and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God."^'' 

Luke,  at  the  close  of  his  Gospel,  as  well  as  at  the  beginning 
of  his  Book  of  Acts,  furnishes  some  interesting  particulars 
touching  the  ascension.  Professedly  he  voices  the  circum- 
stances of  the  occasion  as  stated  by  the  apostles  themselves, 
and  by  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  others  from  whom  he 
immediately  derived  his  authenticated  information.  Grouping 
only  those  details  which,  as  most  important,  we  at  this  remote 

7  Matt,  xxvl,  (B,  64.  8  Dan.  vil,  13, 14.  »  Life  of  Jesus,  c.  Ix. 

10  Mark  xvl,  19,  of  A.  V.,  but  omitted  in  tvfo  oldest  MSS. 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  301 

period  most  naturally  are  concerned  to  know,  he  says  in  his 

Gospel : 

"  And  he  led  them  out  until  they  were  over  against  Bethany ;  and 
he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to  pass  while  he 
blgssed  them,  he  parted  from  them,  and  was  carried  up  into  heaven."" 

He  opens  his  Acts  of  the  Apostles  by  speaking — 

"  Concerning  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to  teach,  until  the 
day  in  which  he  was  taken  up,  after  that  he  had  given  commandment 
through  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  the  apostles  whom  he  had  chosen.  .  .  . 
And  when  he  had  said  these  things,  as  they  were  looking,  he  was  taken 
up ;  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight.  And  while  they  were 
looking  steadfastly  into  heaven  as  he  went,  behold,  two  men  stood  by  them 
in  white  apparel,  who  also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  looking 
into  heaven?  This  Jesus,  who  was  received  up  from  you  into  heaven, 
shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  beheld  him  going  into  heaven.  Then 
retui'ned  they  unto  Jerusalem  from  the  mount  called  Olivet,  which  is 
nigh  unto  Jersusalem,  a  Sabbath-day's  journey  oflf."^^ 

John  also,  as  Matthew,  records  the  sayings  of  Jesus  himself, 

in  these  words: 

"  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place 
for  you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where  I 
am,  there  ye  may  be  also."^^  "I  came  out  from  the  Father,  and  am 
come  into  the  world  ;  again  I  leave  the  world,  and  go  unto  the  Father."" 
"And  no  man  hath  ascended  into  heaven,  but  he  that  descended  out  of 
heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man."^  "  What  then  if  ye  should  behold  the 
Son  of  man  ascending  where  he  was  before  ?"  ^^  "  Touch  me  not,  for  I 
am  not  yet  ascended  unto  my  Father."  ^^ 

These  are  very  explicit  teachings  of  Christ  touching  his 
translation  from  earth  to  heaven.  To  the  understanding  of  his 
disciples  it  was  unusually  clear  and  satisfactory.  They  exclaim : 
"Lo,  now  speakest  thou  plainly  and  speakest  no  proverb."  ^^ 
So  that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  on  this  point  were  no  mere 
imitations. 

Simon  Peter,  with  great  energy  and  persist-  §215.  Peterand 
ency  of  purpose,  bears  witness,  both  orally  and    ^ne  Ascjension. 
in  writing,  respecting  the  ascension  and  the  doctrines  involved. 

11  Luke  xxiv,  50,  51.  "  Acts  1,1,2,  9-12.  "  John  xlv,  2,  3. 

1*76.  xvl,  28;  wjb.  Ill,  13.  is 76.  vl,  62.  "76.  xx,  17. 

18  7b.  xvl,  29,  irapl>-q<ilq.  with  wnreservedness;  .  .  .  irapoiniav,  no  figurative 
saying. 


302         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Referring  to  the  patriarch  David,  he  solemnly  affirms  that 
God  had 

"  Sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins,  One 
should  sit  upon  his  throne.  He,  foreseeing  this,  spake  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  Christ.  .  .  .  Being  therefore  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted, 
and  having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he 
hath  poured  out  this  which  ye  see  and  hear.  For  David  ascended  not 
into  the  heavens;  but  he  saith  himself,  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord, 
Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  till  I  make  thine  enemies  the  footstool  of 
thy  feet.  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know  assuredly  that  God 
hath  made  him  both  Lord  and  Christ,  this  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified." 
"And  that  he  may  send  the  Christ  who  hath  been  appointed  for  you, 
even  Jesus  ;  whom  the  heavens  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restora- 
tion of  all  things  whereof  God  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets, 
who  have  been  since  the  world  began."  "  Him  did  God  exalt  with  his 
right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior  to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and 
remission  of  sins,"  "  who  is  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  having  gone  into 
the  heaven,  angels  and  authorities  and  powers  being  made  subject 
unto  him."  ^^ 

Before  the  Sanhedrin,  Stephen  witnessed  to 

§  216.  Stephen  '  .    ^,     . 

and  the        the   exaltation  of    the   ascended  Christ,  when 
Ascension.      ageing  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  looked  up 
steadfastly  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus 
standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God."  ^ 

To  confirm  these  testimonies  respecting  the  ascension  in 

connection  with  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  it  remains  to  present 

the  witness  of  profane  writers  who  were  hostile 

§217.  The  Wit-  ^  .       .  _,         .       .  , 

nessofAdver-  to  Christ  and  Christianity.  I'or  it  is  made 
sanes.  evident  by  both  friends  and  foes,  who  had  a 
right  to  know  the  truth  whereof  they  affirm,  that,  rising  from 
the  dead,  Jesus  ascended  into  heaven,  and  assumed  there  the 
prerogatives  of  royalty.  "He,  because  he  abideth  forever^ 
hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable;  wherefore  also  he  is  able 
to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near  unto  God 
through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them."  '^ 

i»  Acts  11, 30,  33,  36 ;  ill,  30,  21 ;  v,  30, 31 ;  1  Pet.  ill,  21,  22.  ^  Acts  vli,  55,  66. 

«  Heb.  vli,  24,  25. 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  303 

a)  Rabbinical  writers  have  been  careful  to  note  that  '■'■  Jesus 
calls  himself  the  Son  of  man  coTuing  in  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
and  also  Son  of  the  clouds^  ^  The  word  '■'■dndn''^  ^  in  the  Tar- 
gurriy  signifies  "  clouds^''  and  is  one  of  the  designations  of  the 
Jfessiah.  The  significance  of  this  reference  to  Daniel  was 
understood  by  the  Sanhedrists  when  Jesus  was  on  trial  before 
that  Senate  of  judicature,  and  said  to  the  president  Caiaphas : 
"  Hereafter  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the  right  hand 
of  power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven^^  On  Christ's 
part,  it  was  an  acknowledgment  of  his  claim  and  title  to  the 
Messiahship. 

The  Toledoth  Jeshu  also  mentions  that  "  Jesus  predicted  his 
own  ascension  into  heaven."  It  gives  the  added  testimony 
that  he  appropriated  to  himself  two  pre-eminent  Psalms,  the 
second,  ""Why  do  the  heathen  rage?"  etc.;  and  the  one  hun- 
dred and  tenth,  "  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my 
right  hand  until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool,"  etc.^ 

/8)  Two  Roman  writers  also  bear  brief  but  pointed  witness 

to  Christ's  ascension :  Hierocles,  who  acknowledges  that  '■'■Jesus 

ascended  to  heaven,^'' '^  and  Porphyry,  when  he  says: 

"That  pious  soul  who  ascended  to  heaven  had,  by  a  certain  fatality, 
become  an  occasion  of  error  to  those  who  were  destined  to  have  no 
share  in  thegiftsof  the  gods,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  eternal  Zeus."^^ 

The  testimony  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  means  the  original 
teaching  of  the  apostles  to  their  immediate  pupils.  This  fur- 
nishes a  connecting  link  in  the  historical  succes-  §218.  witness 
sion  of  the  Church  from  the  apostles,  who  saw  of  t^^e  Fathers. 
Jesus  ascending  from  the  mount  of  Olives,  up  through  that 
crystal  fiery  atmosphere  of  the  Orient,  until  "a  cloud  re- 
ceived" and  charioted  him  away  into  the  invisible  world     This 

22  Sab.  Tal.  Sanhed.  98,  a;  on  Dan.  vll,  13;  KJiptJ?  \JJ^-Dj;;  also  Sanhed.  9«5  b; 
comp.  Matt.  xxiv,80;  xxvl,  64. 

»  n;;  l  Chron.  Ill,  24;  Ber.  Rab.  Gen,  xxvlii,  10. 

"  Matt,  xxvl,  64;  comp.  Luke  xxli,  69. 

25  Matt,  xxil,  44;  Mark  xll,  36;  Luke  xx,  41-43;    Acts  11,  35;  Heb.  1, 13. 

»  Lard,  vll,  494.  ^  Neander,  Church  Hist.  1, 173. 

20 


304         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

illustrates  the  universal  faith,  as  it  demonstrates  the  Christ 
exalted  and  glorified.  The  claim  of  the  ascension  originated 
in  the  event  itself,  and  no  question  of  the  fact  is  recorded  by 
friend  or  foe,  that  Jesus  ascended  into  heaven.  Upon  the  con- 
trary, much  is  affirmed  by  both  classes  to  justify  the  claim, 

Barnabus  (A.  D.  70-79) :  "  Wherefore  also  we  keep  the  eighth  day  for 
rejoicing  in  which  also  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  and  having  been 
manifested  he  ascended  into  the  heavens."^* 

Polycarp  (A.  D.  155)  :  *'  For  that  ye  have  believed  on  Him  that  raised 
up  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  and  gave  him  glory  and  a  throne 
at  his  own  right  hand,  unto  whom  all  things  were  made  subject,  that 
are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  .  .  .  who  cometh  as  Judge  of 
quick  and  dead."  ^^ 

To  this  patristic  testimony  is  now  to  be  added  that  of  a  dis- 
ciple of  Polycarp,  who  was  the  disciple  of  the  Apostle  John  who 
witnessed  the  Lord's  ascension.  There  is  but  one  intervening 
person  in  the  line  of  teaching  and  current  history  of  the  fact, 
between  John,  the  original  witness  of  the  ascending  Christ, 
and  Irenaeus,  who  affirms  and  proclaims  the  universal  faith  of 
Christendom  in  the  fact.  Irenasus  (A.  D.  177),  then  Bishop  of 
Lyons  affirmed : 

"The  Church,  t'hough  dispersed  through  the  whole  world,  even  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  has  received  from  the  apostles  and  their  disciples 
this  faith  :  [We  believe]  "In  one  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth  and  of  the  sea  and  all  things  that  are  in  them  ;  and  in 
one  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  who  became  incarnate  for  our  salvation; 
and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  proclaimed  through  the  prophets  the  dispensa- 
tions of  God,  and  the  advents,  and  the  birth  of  the  virgin,  and  the  passion, 
and  of  the  resurrectiom  of  the  dead,  and  the   ascension  into  heaven  in 

THE  FI.ESH  op  THE  BELOVED  ChRIST  JeSUS  OUR  LoRD  ;  AND  HIS  MANI- 
FESTATION  FROM   HEAVEN   IN   THE   GLORY   OF  THE    FaTHER,"  '""  etC. 

Aristides  (A.  D.  123)  says  :  "This  is  taught  from  the  Gospel  which 

a  little  while  ago  was  spoken   among  them  as  preached, 

§219.    Wit-   vi'herein  if  ve  will  also  read  ye  will  comprehend    the 

nessofthe  ,,    ^  .  ..  tt  i  •         j  u 

Apologists,     power  that  is  upon  it.     .     .     .     He  was  also  pierced  by 

the  Jews,  and  died,  and  was  buried  ;  and  they  say  that  after 
three  days  he  rose  and  ascended ;  and  then  these  twelve  disciples  went 
forth  into  the  known  parts  of  the  world,  and  taught  his  greatness  with 
all  humility  and  sobriety." 

«8Bar.  Epistle,  c.  15.  »9Poly.  Epis.  to  Philipp.  c.  2. 

>^Ircn.  vs.  Heresies,  B.  1,  c.  10. 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  305 

The  newly-found  Apology  of  Aristides  contains  also  most 
of  the  "Apostles'  Creed."  The  omissions  are  indicated  by 
stars.    It  reads  :^ 

"  We  believe  in  one  God  Almighty, 
Maker  of  heaven  and  earth, 
And  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son, 

***** 

Born  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

He  was  piei'ced  by  the  Jevps, 

He  died  and  was  buried, 

And  the  third  day  He  rose  again  ; 

He  ascended  into  heaven. 

»  -s-  «  *  * 

He  is  about  to  come  to  judge." 

Justin  Martyr  (A.  D.  145):  "After  you  had  crucified  him,  the  only 
blameless  and  righteous  Man,  .  .  .  when  you  knew  that  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead  and  ascended  to  heaven,  as  the  prophets  foretold  he  would, 
you  not  only  did  not  repent  of  the  wickedness  which  you  had  com- 
mitted," ^2  etc. 

Melito  (A.  D.  170)  wrote  the  Confession  of  the  period  in 
his  treatise  on  Faith,  in  the  newly-discovered  Syrian  docvr 
me7it,  which  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

"  We  have  made  collections  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  relative 
to  those  things  which  have  been  declared  respecting  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
.  .  ,  who  was  incarnate  in  the  Virgin,  who  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  .  .  . 
who  was  pointed  out  by  John  [Baptist],  who  assembled  the  apostles,  .  .  . 
who  was  hanged  on  the  tree,  who  was  buried  in  the  earth,  who  rose  from 
the  dead,  who  appeared  to  the  apostles,  who  ascended  to  heaven,  loho  sitteth 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  .  .  .  who  is  God,  the  Son  who  is  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  King  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen."^ 

TertuUian  (A.  D.  200),  in  his  wonderfully  able  and  eloquent 
Apology,  says: 

"He  spent  forty  days  with  some  of  his  disciples  down  in  Galilee, 
.  .  .  instructing  them  in  the  doctrines  which  they  were  to  teach  others. 
Therefore,  having  given  them  commission  to  preach  the  gospel  through 
the  world,  he  was  encompassed  with  a  cloud  and  taken  up  to  heaven."^* 

^Apology,  25.  ^'^ Dialogue  with  Try pho,  17. 

3»Cited  In  West.  Canon  of  N.  T.  224-226.  ^Apol.  c.  21. 


306  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

The  universal  consensus  of  negative  critics  admits,  as  gen_ 

nine  and  credible,  Paul's  first  four  Epistles  and  John's  Book 

of  Revelation.     The  testimony  of  these  apostles 

§220.  The  Wit-  .  '^  ^ 

ness  of  is  uot  that  they  saw  Jesus  in  the  act  of  ascend- 
Paui  and  John.  ^^^^  |^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  alive  in  heaven — a  fact 

which  necessitates  the  induction  that  the  Lord  had  first  liter- 
ally ascended  thither,  as  the  Gospels  record, 
a)  Paul  says : 

"As  I  made  my  journey  and  drew  nigh  unto  Damascus,  about  noon, 
suddenly  thei-e  shone  from  heaven  a  great  light  round  about  me.  And  I 
fell  to  the  ground,  and  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me,  Saul,  Saul,  vphy 
persecutest  thou  me?  And  I  answered.  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  And  he 
said  unto  me,  I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest."  ^  "  Have 
I  not  seen  Jesus  our  Lord  ?"  ^  "  And  last  of  all,  as  unto  one  born  out  of 
due  time,  he  appeared  unto  me  also."^^  "Say  not  in  thy  heart.  Who 
shall  ascend  into  heaven?  (that  is,  to  bring  Christ  down)  :  or  Who  shall 
descend  into  the  abyss?  (that  is,  to  bring  Christ  up  from  the  dead)."% 
"For  to  this  end  Christ  died,  and  lived  again,  that  he  might  be  Lord  of 
both  the  dead  and  the  living."  ^^  "n  ^ras  Christ  Jesus  that  died,  yea, 
rather,  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  who  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us."  ■'" 

P)  John,  the  apostle  of  Jesus,  gives  this  witness  in  the  first 

chapter  of  the  Apocalypse : 

"  Grace  to  you  .  .  .  from  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  faithful  Wit- 
ness, the  Firstborn  of  the  dead,  and  Ruler  of  the  kings  of  the  earth. 
.  .  .  Behold,  he  cometh  with  the  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him^ 
and  they  that  pierced  him ;  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  mourn 
over  him.  Even  so,  Amen.  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  who  is,  and  who  was,  and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 
"  Fear  not ;  I  am  the  First  and  the  Last,  and  the  Living  One  ;  and  I  was 
dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore ;  and  I  have  the  keys  of  death 
and  Hades.    Write  therefore  the  things  which  thou  sawest."  ^ 

§221.  Analysis  of  the  Evidence  Adduced. 

The  chief  evidence  here  adduced  is  twofold, — to  substan- 
tiate the  fact  of  Christ's  literal  ascension  to,  and  spiritual 
royalty  in  heaven,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  manner  of  his  second 

a6Actsxxli,6-8.  30  i  Cor.  1.x,  1.  «/6.  xv,  8. 

38Rom.x.((,  7.  39/b.  xlv,  ». 

»/6.  vill,  34;  comp.  Eph.  1,  20;  Col.  HI,  1;  1  Pet.  Ill,  22;  Heb.  1,  3;  ix,  24;  vlll,  1; 
X,  12;  xll,  2. 

«  Rev.  1,  4,  5,  7,  8, 17-19. 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  307 

advent  to  earth  at  the  end  of  time,  as  the  Scriptures  afl5rm.  The 
testimony  is  furnished  alike  by  the  adversaries  and  the  adherents 
to  Christianity.  Of  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  religion 
there  are  two  camps — the  Jews  and  the  Romans.  Both  were 
instinct  with  opposition  which  arises  from  the  natural  man. 
But  their  hostility  was  due  to  different  motives.  The  Jews 
were  characteristically  malignant  and  persistent  in  their  oppo- 
sition to  the  Man  of  Nazareth,  for  the  same  spirit  which  had 
originally  crucified  his  person  was  transmitted  and  tradition- 
ally taught  to  childhood  both  in  the  home  and  in  the  syna- 
gogue. But  the  Eoman  hostility  arose  partly  from  the  hate 
and  scorn  which  the  Romans  cherished  toward  all  Jews,  of 
whose  blood  and  nation  the  apostles  and  the  first  Christians 
were ;  but  more  especially  from  what  they  regarded  as  consid- 
erations of  patriotism,  in  that  Christianity  absolutely  rejected 
and  contemned  all  the  Roman  gods  and  the  religion  of  the 
State. 

It  is  quite  natural,  therefore,  that  the  testimony  of  both 
parties  to  the  Christian  facts,  if  recorded  at  all,  should  be  no 
more  copious  or  cordial  than  a  brief  reference  to  given  circum- 
stances. It  is  to  be  'noted,  however,  that  neither  the  Jewish 
Rabbins  nor  the  heathen  Romans  claim  to  have  been  personal 
witnesses  of  the  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Jews  testify 
that  our  Lord's  ascension  and  his  eternal  royalty  at  the  right 
hand  of  power  were  predicted  by  Christ  himself,  as  well  as 
his  return  to  earth  for  judgment,  "coming  with  the  clouds  of 
heaven,"  and  so  far  they  authenticate  the  words  of  Jesus  as 
truly  recorded  in  the  Scriptures.  But  the  Roman  writers 
steadfastly  afiirm  the  ascension  to  have  actually  occurred. 
Upon  the  contrary,  there  is  no  known  dissent  respecting  this 
occurrence.  Now,  if  these  enemies  did  not  themselves  see 
Jesus  ascend  from  earth,  their  testimony  does  powerfully 
corroborate,  in  the  historical  sense,  the  witness  of  the  ajDOstles 
who  did  see  him  ascending  in  bodily  form  until  "a  cloud 
received  him  out  of  their  sight."     Why  is  it  necessary  that  a 


308         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

literary  writer  of  reputation  should,  be  a  personal  witness  of 
the  events  of  which  he  is  cognizant  in  current  history,  any 
more  than  the  historian  who  constantly  records  events  which 
he  has  never  seen?  Nay,  how  much  more  is  to  be  received 
the  testimony  of  those  who  were  confessedly  hostile  to  the 
Christian  religion,  and  wrote  to  destroy  it  ? 

The  rabbinical  writers  were  particularly  careful  to  record 
scant  acknowledgment  of  anything  that  would  seem  to  justify 
the  Messianic  character  and  claim  of  the  Nazarene.  But  they 
own  that  "Jesus  did  predict  his  own  ascension  to  heaven;" 
and  that  he  appropriated  to  himself  certain  Psalms  which  the 
whole  Jewish  Church  had  always  applied  exclusively  to  the 
real  Messiah.  The  evangelistic  story  states  that  the  angel 
declared  to  the  apostles  at  the  ascension :  "  This  same  Jesus 
who  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven  f  that  as  "a  cloud 
[then]  received  him  out  of  their  sight,"  so  will  he  return  to 
earth  encompassed  "  with  the  clouds  of  heaven."  To  Caiaphas 
and  the  Sanhedrists  assembled  to  try  Jesus,  the  Lord  openly 
confessed  that  he  was  in  truth  the  Son  of  God  who  would  sit 
at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  would  be  seen  of  them  there- 
after returning  to  the  earth  amidst  the  clouds  of  heaven.  The 
Jewish  Talmud  thence  records  Jesus  idiomatically  and  ironic- 
ally as  "  the  son  of  the  clouds''''  and  as  "  the  son  of  man  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heawenP  The  Targum  applies  the  appellation 
"  clouds  "  to  the  Messiah  exclusively.  This  indirect  testimony 
by  the  Jewish  writers  is  not  without  its  evidential  value.  It 
not  only  admits  Christ's  historical  existence,  but,  what  is  of 
much  importance,  it  records  his  own  claim  as  being  their 
Messiah;  their  testimony  consents  to  the  fact  that  "he  pre- 
dicted his  own  ascension  to  heaven,"  and  circumstantially 
describes  that  he  will  come  again  in  the  end  as  he  went, 
encompassed  with  clouds. 

Turning  to  the  Romans,  wo  find  none  of  those  idiomatic 
and  figurative  representations  characteristic  of  the  Jews'  ex- 


The  Ascension  of  Jksus  Christ.  809 

pression,  but  we  have  the  literal  affirmations  of  the  ascended 
Lord.  Both  Ilierocles  and  Porphyry  acknowledge  outright 
that  "  Jesus  ascended  to  heaven^  Now,  this  conviction  of  the 
fact  so  thoroughly  profound,  entertained  alike  by  foes  and 
friends  of  Christ,  remains  to  be  explained,  if  the  ascension 
did  not  actually  occur  to  give  it  origin.  It  has  ever  been  the 
universal  belief  of  Christians,  who  hold  the  record  of  the 
fact.  What  produced  this  constant  belief  of  friends  and  foes? 
If  the  occurrence  is  denied  as  being  unhistorical,  a  satisfactory 
account  of  its  origin  without  any  fictitious  assumptions  is 
demanded  of  the  disbeliever.  For  these  heathen  writers  affirm 
the  fact  exactly  accordant  with  the  evangelistic  narrative; 
accordant  with  the  testimony  of  Stephen  before  the  Sanhe- 
drists,  when  he  attested  that  he  saw  Jesus  standing  at  the  right 
hand  of  God ;  and  accordant  with  the  testimony  of  Paul,  who 
affirmed  that  near  Damascus  he  saw  and  talked  with  the 
ascended  Jesus;  and  accordant  with  the  testimony  of  John, 
who  also  attests  that  he  saw  Jesus  on  the  Lord's  day  on  the 
island  Patmos.  Such,  then,  is  the  apostolic  teaching.  The 
Johannean  testimony  carries  this  added  force  and  effect:  that 
John  was  himself  present  and  personally  witnessed  the  scene 
and  circumstances  when  Jesus  ascended ;  so  afterward,  when 
John  was  exiled  in  Patmos,  he  recognized  the  personality  of 
him  who  announced  himself  as  "the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
First  and  the  Last,  and  the  Living  One,  who  was  dead,  and 
hehold  I  am  alive  for  evermore^  ^''Behold  he  cometh  with  the 
clouds,  a/nd  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  that  pierced  him?'* 
To  render  this  catenate  of  proofs  complete  and  indisputa- 
ble touching  the  ascension,  the  witness  of  the  Apostolic  leathers 
is  introduced,  supported  by  their  successors  the  Christian 
Apologists.  These  several  testimonies  evidence  and  illustrate 
what  was  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints"  by  those 
who  were  eye-witnesses  of  Christ's  exhaltation  to  glory.  For 
if  he  was  seen  in  heaven  by  Paul  and  John,  as  they  affirm,  he 
must  first  have  ascended  to  heaven.     The  authenticity  of  this 


310         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

great  doctrinal  fact  in  its  simplicity  and  sublimity,  is  thus 
brought  to  view  apart  from  all  fictitious  pretense  of  legendary 
accretions,  and  was  the  universal  faith  of  the  Christian  Church 
from  the  beginning.  The  sequel,  then,  of  Christ's  resurrection 
was  his  ascension.  He  was  thereby  inducted  to  royalty  and 
enthroned.  And  herein  is  the  circle  of  his  activities  in  the 
interests  of  mankind,  in  both  place  and  power,  made  complete 
when  he  shall  come  to  earth,  encompassed  with  clouds,  as 
when  he  ascended.  It  is  now  easy  to  understand  the  facts 
as  real,  and  the  proofs  as  conclusive  and  historical,  relating  to 
these  two  events  leading  from  the  sepulcher  to  the  throne — 
from  deepest  humility  to  greatest  royalty.  These  two  facts 
are  basal  to  the  whole  system  of  Christian  doctrine. 

The  Creeds  of  the  Church  are  but  the  crystalline  expression 

of  Christian  beliefs.     They  summarize  the  principal  facts  and 

§222        doctrines  of  the  primitive  Church.    As  indicative 

Creeds.  of  the  apostles'  faith  and  teaching — though  not 
formulated  until  some  time  after  the  Apostolic  Age — it  may 
be  deemed  in  place  to  cite  here 

THE  APOSTLES*  CREED. 
"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth  ;  and 
in  Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son  our  Lord ;  who  was  conceived  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  suffered  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried.  He  descended  into  Hades. 
The  third  day  he  rose  from  the  dead ;  he  ascended  into  heaven,  and 
sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty  ;  from  thence 
he  will  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  the  holy  catholic  Church,  the  communion  of  Saints  ; 
the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  and  the  life 
everlasting.     Amen." 

The  reality  of  the  great  fact  discussed  in  this  chapter, 
besides  verifying  inductively  the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of 
the  New  Testament,  legitimates  the  following  conclusions : 

1.  The  ascension  of  Christ  occurred  visibly  at  the  Mount  of 

Olives. 

2.  This  was  the  transitional  period  in  his  life  between  two 

worlds. 


The  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ,  311 

3.  Christ's   ascension  inducted   him   to   his  proper   place  of 

royalty. 

4.  The  risen  and  ascended  Christ  identifies  him  as  the  Lord 

of  Glory. 

5.  His  ascension  to  heaven  forecasts  his  return  as  the  Judge 

of  men. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS  CHEIST  AND 
TIIEIK  WORK. 

I.  Historicity  op  the  People  Called  Christians. 

1.  Appellative    "Christians"  Applied    Fii-st    by    the 

World. 

2.  Attested  by  the  Common  Literature  of  the  Period. 

II,  Historical  Existence  op  Christ's  Disciples. 

1.  Attested  by  the  Enemies  of  Christianity. 

2.  Confii-med  by  the  Friends  of  Christianity. 

3.  Analysis  of  the  Several  Testimonies  Given. 

III.  James,  the  Lord's  Brother,  also  an  Apostle. 

1.  Several  Persons  Named  James  in  the  New  Testa- 

ment. 

2.  James  the  Brother  of  Our  Lord. 

a)  His  Noble  Character. 
/3)  His  Violent  Death. 

3.  The  Several  Testimonies  Reviewed. 

IV.  Miracles  Wrought  by  the  Apostles  op  Christ. 

1.  Miracles  as  Accrediting  Signs  of  Apostleship. 

2.  Miracles  Manifold  Wrought  in  Christ's  Name. 

3.  Miracles  Admitted  by  Foes  with  Explanations. 

V.  The  Apostles'  Ministry  Abroad  Among  the  Nations. 

1.  The  Common  Voice  of  Disbelief  Confirmed. 

2.  Christianity  in  Relation  to  the  Roman  Empire. 

3.  Cities  and  Centers  Reached  by  the  Apostles'  Min- 

istry. 

4.  Obstacles  and  Oppositions  to  the  Diffusion  of  Re- 

ligion. 

Inductions. 
313 


Chapter  XII. 

THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  AND 
THEIR  WORK. 

§223.    The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  Work. 

And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at  Antioch  [Syria]. — Luke. 

Nero  .  .  .  falsely  charged  with  the  guilt  .  .  .  the  persons  com- 
monly called  Christians.  Christ,  the  founder  of  that  name,  had 
been  put  to  death. — Tacitus. 

And  the  sect  of  Christiana,  so  named  from  Him,  are  not  extinct  at  this 

day. — JosEPHus. 
James,  called  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  because  he  is  called  the   son  of 

Joseph. — EusEBius. 
Ananus     .     .     .     assembled  the  Sanhedrin  of  the  Judges,  and  brought 

before  them  the  brother  of  Jesus  who  was  called  Christ,  whose 

name  was  James. — Josephus. 
Go  ye  therefore,  disciple  all  nations,    .    .    .    teaching  them  to  observe 

all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you. — Jesus. 
And  they  went  forth  and  preached  everywhere,  the  Lord  working  with 

them,  confirming  the  word  by  the  signs  following. — Mark. 

ARGUMENT. 

A  principal  fact  in  the  Gospels  is  that  Jesus  Christ  attracted  to  his 
person  and  ministry  many  disciples,  who  were  afterward  called 
apostles,  to  whom,  in  the  first  instance,  was  due  the  spread  of  the 
Christian  religion.  The  enemies  of  Christianity  either  admit  or 
affirm  the  discipleship  to  have  been  Iiistorical.  Accordant  with 
Jewish  custom,  the  names  of  certain  disciples  are  mentioned. 
Some  adversaries  refer  to  one  "James,  the  brother  of  Jesus  who 
was  called  Christ."  It  is  quite  certain  that  this  James  was  not 
one  of  the  original  twelve  disciples  of  Christ,  but  that  he  became 
an  apostle  by  reason  of  the  Lord's  resurrection.  All  parties 
ascribe  to  James  a  pure  and  upright  character.  He  died  a  martyr 
for  his  Christian  faith. 

The  followers  of  Christ  were  early  called  Christians  after  his  name.  The 
disciples  afterwards  were  designated  apostles  with  reference  to 
their  gi'eat  commission  in  being  sent  forth  to  the  nations  by  Christ 
to  preach  his  gospel.    Having  been  invested  with  power  from  on 

315 


316         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

high  at  the  great  Pentecost,  they  began  the  work  of  their  apostolate, 
first  in  Judsea,  but  afterward  among  the  populations,  civilizations, 
and  gi*eat  centers  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Wherever  they  went, 
they  published  the  saving  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  wrought 
miracles  in  his  name.  The  apostles  and  their  successors  met  with 
an  amazing  success — a  success  which  is  not  to  be  explained  on  any 
natural  principles. 

1.  The  Followers  of  Christ,  from  His  name,  were  called 

Christians. 

2.  The  Historical  Existence  of  Persons  known  as  Christ's 

Disciples. 

3.  James,  who  was  the  Brother  of  our  Lord,  also  became 

His  Apostle. 

4.  These  Apostles  wrought   Miracles   by   the  Name  and 

Power  of  Clirist. 

5.  They  also  went  to  the  Nations,  publishing  His  Gospel 

with  Success. 

I.  Christ's  Followers  Called  Christians. 
The  Book  of  Acts  records  that  "the  disciples  were  called 
Christians  first  at  Antioch."     The  designation 

8224.  The  ° 

Appellative     had  special  reference  to  Christ,  the  Founder  of 
the  Christian  religion.     It  was  the  remark  of 
Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria : 

"The  Christian  people  never  took  their  denomination  from  their 
own  bishops,  but  from  the  Lord  in  whom  we  believe.  And  though  the 
blessed  apostles  are  our  masters,  and  have  administered  to  us  the  gospel 
of  our  Lord,  we  are  not  named  from  them.  For  from  Christ  we  are,  and 
are  called  Christians."^ 

From  the  circumstance  that  the  word  Christian  is  derived 
from  a  Greek  stem  with  a  Latin  termination,  it  is  supposed 
that  the  appellation  was  of  Roman  origin,  and  was  not 
assumed  by  the  apostles  in  the  first  instance.  Kevertheless, 
because  of  its  reference  to  Christ,  it  was  not  unacceptable. 
Paul  seems  to  have  avoided  its  use  altogether,  even  in  the 
famous  defense  of  his  faith  at  Caesarea,  when  Herod  Agrippa 
II  pronounced  the  name  "  Christian,"  perhaps  sneeringly,  and 
the  apostle  responded  with  such  impressive  dignity  and  cour- 
tesy to  the  king.  Peter,  however,  employed  the  term  Avith 
reference  to  its  origin  when  he  wrote : 

J  Lard,  iv,  153. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  Work.       317 

"If  ye  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ,  happy  are  ye ;  .  .  . 
but  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  as  a  thief,  or  as  an  evil  doer, 
or  as  a  meddler  in  other  men's  matters.  Yet  if  any  one  suffer  as  a 
Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed,  but  let  him  glorify  God  in  that  name."  2 

The  appellation  seems  to  have  been  in  common  use  by  foes 
and  friends  for  a  period  of  two  centuries  after  the  apostles. 
Josephus  says  that  "  the  sect  of  Christians,  so  ^  225.  common 
named  from  Him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day."^  i^  Literatiire. 
Tacitus  mentions  "Christ  the  founder  of  that  name,"  and 
declares  that  Nero  "falsely  charged  with  the  guilt  [of  himself 
in  burning  Rome]  those  persons  .  .  .  commonly  called 
Christians."^  Pliny  the  younger,  in  his  official  Letter  to 
Trajan^  speaks  of  the  judicial  "trials  of  the  Christians" 
who  were  "brought  before  him  as  Christians."  He  says: 
"I  asked  them  whether  they  were  Christians;"  some  "con- 
fessed that  they  were  Christians,  but  others  denied  it."^ 
Suetonius,  also  referring  to  the  burning  of  Rome,  says  of  Nero 
that  "he  likewise  inflicted  punishments  on  the  Christians."* 
Celsus  speaks  of  the  first  Jewish  Christians  as  "deserters  to 
another  name,  and  another  mode  of  life."  ®  Lucian,  mentioning 
one  Peregrinus,  says :  "At  which  time  he  learned  the  wonderful 
doctrines  of  the  Christians." ''  Porphyry  refers  to  Origen,  who 
"  was  in  great  esteem,  .  .  .  whose  authority  is  very  great 
with  the  teachers  of  this  [new]  doctrine,  .  .  .  who  went 
over  to  this  barbarian  temerity,  .  .  .  living  as  a  Christian, 
and  contrary  to  the  laws."  ^  Aristides  says :  "  Those  who  to-day 
believe  in  his  preaching  are  called  Christians,  who  are  well 
known." ^  TertuUian  says:  "The  outcry  is  that  the  State  is 
filled  with  Christians ;  they  are  in  the  fields,  in  the  citadels,  in 
the  islands.  They  make  lamentation  as  for  some  calamity, 
that  both  sexes,  every  age  and  condition,  even  high  rank,  are 
passing  over  to  the  profession  of  the  Christian  faith."  ^° 

*  Lives  of  the  Ccesars,  Nero,  c.  16. 

2  1  Pet.  Iv,  14, 16.  3  Ant.  x\m,  S,  3.  *  Annals,  xv,  U,  i5. 

s  Hpis.  X,  97.  6  Orig.  con.  Cels.  11, 1.  '  Cited  by  Lard,  vll,  279. 

8  Jb.  p.  397.  »  Apology.  lo  Apol.  c.  1. 


318         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

This  common  usage  in  the  cmrent  literatm'e  of  those  times 
proves  the  early  origin  of  Christianity,  and  the  authenticity  of 
the  references  to  Christians  made  by  Luke  and  Peter. 

II.  Historical  Existence  of  the  Disciples. 

In  ancient  times  it  was  usual  for  philosophers  and  teachers 
to  have  a  following  of  those  who  were  attracted  to  their  pres- 
ence for  the  purpose  of  receiving  instruction. 

§  226.  The  Dis-  ^      ^  ° 

cipies  of  Socrates  and  Plato  had  their  learners ;  John  Bap- 
tist and  Jesus  had  their  disciples.  After  having 
spent  a  night  in  prayer,  our  Lord  chose  twelve  men"  whom  he 
ordained  to  be  the  companions  of  his  ministry,  the  witnesses  of 
his  miracles,  and  the  learners  of  his  doctrines.  With  such  ample 
opportunities  and  advantages  they  were  to  be  qualified  to  attest 
his  own  resurrection  from  the  dead,  his  ascension  to  heaven,  as 
well  as  to  write  the  Tnemoirs  of  his  life,  and  then  preach  his 
gospel  to  the  nations  of  the  world.  A  discijple  was  a  follower 
of  Jesus;  an  apostle  was  one  sent  to  publish  salvation  in  his 
name  unto  all  people.  These  chosen  twelve  disciples  after- 
wards became  his  commissioned  apostles.  Of  these  twelve, 
however,  "Judas  by  transgression  fell,"  and  one  Matthias  was 
chosen  to  take  his  place  in  the  apostolate.  Thenceforth  the 
superstructure  of  Christianity  was  "  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone."  * 

Now,  those  writers  who  were  hostile  to  the  Christian  relig- 
ion made  a  record  which  strongly  confirms  the  history  of  the 
apostolate  of  Jesus  as  given  in  the  historical  part 
ords  of  the  of  the  New  Testament.  They  recognize  and 
^'  affirm  the  fact  that  our  Lord  did  ordain  and  send 
forth  his  apostles  to  preach  Christ's  saving  power. 

1.  Josepjius  mentions  the  broad  fact  of  Christ's  following : 

"  He  drew  after  him  many  of  the  Jews  and  many  of  the  Greeks. "" 

*Eph.ll,  20;  1  Pet.  11,  6. 

11  Matt.  X,  2-5;  Mark  HI,  14;  Luke  vl,  13-16;  John  vl,  70,  71;  Acts  1, 13. 

"^nt.xviil,  3,  3. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  axd  Thkik  Work.       'U9 

2.  The  Talmud  mentions  some  of  the  disciples'  names : 

"The  Rabbins  have  taught  that  there  were  five  disciples  of  Jesus: 
Matthai  [i  <?.,  Matthew],  Thodah  [Thaddeus],  Nestor  [Nazarene],  Boni 
or  Nikdimon  ben  Gorion  [Nicodemus  son  of  Gorion],  and  Nakai,"  either 
an  unknown  follower,  or  a  fictitious  name  of  a  disciple.  "  Eleazor  says : 
O  Akiba,  ...  as  I  was  walking  in  the  street  of  Zipporis  I  met  one  of 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whose  name  is  James."  ^^ 

3.  The  Toledoth  Jeshu  mentions  the  exact  number  and 
vocation  of  the  disciples : 

"  Jesus  had  twelve  disciples,  who  traveled  into  the  twelve  kingdoms 
and  prophesied  of  him.  The  people  went  after  him,  and  some  of  them 
were  reputable  people,  who  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  Jeshu  [Jesus], 
and  they  declared  that  they  were  his  messengers."  "  They  gathered  a 
vast  multitude  of  Israel,"  etc. 

4.  Celsus  mentions  Christ's  disciples  and  what  he  conceived 
to  be  their  character : 

"Jesus  having  gathered  around  him  ten  or  eleven  persons  of  noto- 
rious character,  the  very  wickedest  of  tax-gathers  and  sailors,"  .  .  . 
those  who  were  his  associates  while  [he  was]  alive,  and  who  listened  to 
his  voice  and  enjoyed  his  instruction  as  their  teacher."  ^  "They  have  for- 
saken the  laws  of  their  fathers  in  consequence  of  their  minds  being  led 
captive  by  Jesus,  .  .  .  and  they  haver  become  deserters  to  another 
name  and  another  mode  of  life."  ^^  "  In  the  next  place  he  was  betrayed 
by  [one  of]  those  whom  he  called  his  disciples."  ^^ 

5.  Julian  mentions  the  names  of  Christian  converts  who 
were  reputable.     Referring  to  Jesus  and  Paul,  he  says : 

"They  never  expected  you  [Christians]  to  arrive  at  such  power. 
They  were  content  with  deceiving  maidservants  and  slaves,  and  by  them 
some  men  and  women,  such  as  Cornelius  and  Sergius.  If  there  were 
other  men  of  eminence  brought  over  to  you — I  mean  in  the  time  of  Tiberius 
and  Claudius,  when  these  things  happened — let  me  pass  for  a  liar  in 
everything  I  say."  ^^ 

Respecting  the  apostles,  there  is  abundant  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^_ 
confirmation  in  the  literature  of  the  Christians       ordsof 

.  Christians. 

belonging  to  the  same  period. 

Barnabas  says:  "And  when  he  chose  his  own  apostles,  who  were  to 
proclaim  his  gospel,     .     .     .     then  he  manifested  himself  to  be  the  Son 

i»Sa6.  Tal.,  Sanhed.  43,  a,  Unexpurgated  ed.  "  Cels.  1,  62. 

"76.11,45,  18  76.11,1.  "/7>.  11, 11.  "  iard.  vll,  630,  631. 

21 


320         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  God.  .  .  .  They  that  preached  unto  us  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
the  purification  of  our  heart,  they  to  whom  being  twelve  in  number,  for 
a  testimony  unto  the  twelve  tribes — for  there  are  twelve  tribes  of  Israel — 
he  gave  authority  over  the  gospel,  that  they  should  preach  it."^^  Aris- 
tides  says:  "This  Jesus  .  .  .  had  twelve  disciples,  in  order  that  a 
certain  dispensation  of  his  might  be  fulfilled.  .  .  .  He  ascended  [to 
heaven],  and  then  these  twelve  disciples  went  forth  into  the  known  parts 
of  the  world,  and  taught  concerning  his  greatness."  ^^  Tertullian  says: 
"  He  spent  forty  days  with  some  of  his  disciples  down  in  Galilee,  a  re- 
gion in  Judaea,  instructing  them  in  the  doctrines  they  were  to  teach 
others.  Thereafter,  having  given  them  commission  to  preach  the  gospel 
through  the  world,  .  .  .  his  disciples  also  spreading  over  the  world, 
did  as  their  Divine  Master  bade  them."^^  The  Apostle  Paul  says: 
"Neither  went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  those  that  were  apostles  before 
me.  .  .  .  But  other  apostles  saw  I  none  save  James  the  Lord's 
brother."  "  He  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve.  .  .  .  After 
that  he  was  seen  of  James,  then  of  all  the  apostles."-^ 

An  analysis  of  the  foregoing  testimonies  yields 
Analysis  of    the  following  propositions  confirmatory  of  facts 

Testimonies.       ^^  i   •      j.i       /-i  i 

auirmed  in  the  (rospels : 

1.  That  Jesus  attracted  to  himself  many  disciples,  both  Jews 

and  Gentiles.     (Josephus.) 

2.  Some  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  are  mentioned  by  name,  by 

Jewish  Eabbis.     (Talmud.) 

3.  Through  these  disciples  a  very  great  multitude  of  Israel 

became  believers.     (Toledoth.) 

4.  The  converts  to  Christianity  went  over  to  another  name  and 

mode  of  life.     (Celsus.) 

5.  The  chronology  of  these  facts  dates  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius 

and  Claudius.     (Julian.) 

CONFIRMATIONS 

6.  Barnabas  confirms  Toledoth  as  to  twelve  disciples  according 

to  the  twelve  tribes. 

7.  Aristides  confirms  Toledoth  in  the  number  and  vocation  of 

the  apostles  of  Jesus. 

8.  Tertullian  confirms  Paul  of  Christ's  teaching  in   Galilee 

after  his  resurrection.'^ 


19  Epis.  cc.  5, 8.  so  Apol.  «  Apol.  c.  21. 

22  Gal.  1, 17-19:  11,9;  1  Cor.  xv,  5,  7.  ««  Acts  xlil,  31. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Theik  "Work.       321 

9.  Julian  confirms  Toledoth  as  to  reputable  standing  of  some 

Christian  converts. 

10.  Paul  confirms  the  Talmud  in  naming,  and  the  Toledoth  in 
numbering,  the  disciples. 

11.  And  all  the  testimonies  witness  to  the  antiquity  and  truth 
of  the  New  Testament. 

III.  James  the  Brother  of  Our  Lord. 

Four  persons  of  eminence  are  named  James  in  the  New 
Testament:    "James    the    Elder,"    "James    the    g230.  Four 
Little,"  "James  the  son  of  Alphaeus,"  and  "  James  named  James, 
the  Lord's  brother." 

James  the  Elder,  was  brother  of  the  Apostle  John,  son  of 
Zebedee.^  These  two  were  designated  by  Christ  as  "sons  of 
thunder."  ^  They  both  enjoyed  special  relations  with  Jesus  in 
preparation  for  special  services  in  their  future  apostolate. 
They,  with  Peter,  were  the  favored  three  of  the  Twelve  who 
were  chosen  to  witness  Christ's  Messianic  work  when  he  raised 
the  daughter  of  Jairus  from  the  dead,  ^  who  were  admitted  to 
behold  the  glory  of  Christ's  transfiguration  "on  the  holy 
mount,"  ^  and  who  witnessed  the  Lord's  humiliation  and  agony 
in  the  garden  Gethsemane.  ^  This  James  was  the  first  martyr, 
as  John  was  the  last  survivor,  of  the  twelve  disciples.  He 
was  beheaded  by  order  of  Herod  Agrippa  I,  in  A.  D.  44.  ^ 

James  the  Little,^  probably  so  called  from  his  stature,  was 
the  son  of  a  certain  Mary  and  a  brother  of  Joseph.^  His 
mother  is  named  as  one  of  the  women  from  Galilee  who 
brought  sweet  spices  to  the  Savior's  tomb.^  This  James  is 
quite  commonly  supposed  to  be  the  son  of  Alphaeus,  on  the 
hypothesis  that  his  mother  was  the  wife  of  Cleopas,  who  was 

2«  Matt.  Iv,  21;  x,  2.  "^  Mark  111,  17.  "^^  Mark  v,  37;  Luke  vlll,  41,  49-55. 

"  Matt,  xvii,  1-13;  Mark  ix,  2-10;  Luke  Ix,  28-36;  2  Pet.  1, 17, 18. 

28  Matt,  xxvl,  36-46;  John  xvili,  1;  xli,  27. 

29  Acts  xli,  2 

30  '0  Mt/cp6r,  ihe  Little,  not  the  Les/s,  as  In  the  A.  V.,  Mark  xv,  40. 

81  Matt,  xxvil,  56,  Mapla  rj  rod  'laxti/Sou    Kal  ^Iwaij    fiifiTrjp. 

82  Mark  xvl,  1;  coiiip.  xv,  40;  Luke  xxiii,  55,  56;  xxlv,  1. 


322         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

also  named  Alphaeus ;  ^  but  this  is  seriously  questioned.  Though 
a  man  of  prominence  in  the  primitive  Church,  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  one  of  the  twelve  apostles. 

James  the  son  of  Alphaeus,  who  was  one  of  the  original 
Twelve,  and  is  named  in  the  four  apostolic  lists. ^ 

James,  the  Lord's  brother,  was  the  eldest  of  Joseph  and 

Mary's  children,  Jesus  being  the  firstborn  of  the  Yirgin,     In 

the  family  list  contained  in  the  Gospels,  the  name 

8  231.    The  "^  -,  T  • 

Lord's  of  James  is  invariably  mentioned  first,  denoting 
priority  as  to  his  brothers  and  unnamed  sisters.'^ 
It  is  a  curious  circumstance  noted  by  the  Evangelist  that 
Christ's  nearest  kindred  at  first  did  not  believe  on  him  as  the 
Messiah  when  engaging  in  his  Messianic  work.  Upon  the 
contrary,  they  regarded  his  claims  thereto  as  merely  so  much 
evidence  that  Jesus  was  beside  himself.  ^  Quite  probably  the 
Lord  referred  to  this  fact  when  he  said :  "  A  prophet  is  not 
without  honor,  but  in  his  own  country,  and  among  his  own  kin, 
and  in  his  own  house.'''' '^ 

This  James  is  not  mentioned  in  the  four  registries  of  the 
twelve  disciples,  ^  but  appears  to  have  become  converted  upon 
first  seeing  the  risen  Christ.  In  the  records  of  the  Lord's 
reappearances  alive,  no  details  are  given  as  to  his  appearing  to 
James,  but  the  fact  itself  is  clearly  stated  by  Paul:  "After 
that  he  was  seen  of  James,  then  of  all  the  apostles."^  Subse- 
quently Paul,  relating  his  visit  to  Jerusalem,  recognizes  the 
Lord's  brother  as  an  apostle,  and  holding  a  pre-eminent  position 
in  the  Apostolic  Church:  "But  other  of  the  apostles  saw  I 
none  save  James  the  Lord's  brother."  ^  "  And  when  James, 
Cephas,  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be  pillars  [in  the  Church], 
perceived  the  grace  that  was  given  unto  me,  they  gave  to  me 

»3  John  xlx,  25;  comp.  Matt,  x,  3. 

34  Matt.  X,  3;  Mark  Hi,  13-19;  Luke  vl,  14-16;  Acts  1, 13. 

35  Matt,  xili,  55,  5(5;  Mark  vi,  3;  John  vl,  42. 
30  Mark  ill,  21 ;  Matt,  xii,  46-50;  John  vll,  5. 

37  Mark  vl,  3,  4;  Luke  iv,  24. 

38  Matt.  X,  2;  Mark  111,  14-19;  Luke  vl,  13-16;  Acts  1,  13. 
89 1  Cor.  XV,  7.  «  Gal,  i,  19;  ii,  9. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  "Work.       328 

and  Barnabas  the  right  hands  of  fellowship,  that  we  should  go 
unto  the  heathen,  and  they  unto  the  circumcision."  ^  James 
appears  to  have  taken  front  rank  with  the  apostles ;  for  he  was 
chosen  as  the  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem;^  he  was  the  presiding 
spirit  in  the  first  Council  of  the  Church;^  and  he  wrote  an 
Epistle  of  the  New  Testament  which  bears  his  name  and 
indicates  his  relationship  to  Jesus.  How  faithful  he  was  after 
his  conversion  to  Christ,  how  spiritual  he  was  in  his  character 
and  life;  and  how  he  finally  won  a  martyr's  crown,  are 
things  to  be  related  in  the  testimonies  to  follow. 

The  pre-eminent  position  of  this  James  as  given  in  the 
!New  Testament  iustilies  a  reference  to  his  charac-    „  ^  ^, 

"l  §232.  Charac- 

ter as  indicated  in  the  views  of  him  entertained     ter  of  the 

by  those  who  lived  in  his  times  and  succeeding.       Brother. 

There  are  two  sources,  Jewish  and  Christian. 

The  Talmud:  "James  was  so  eminent  among  the  Jews  that  they 
designated,  him  to  be  a  mighty  man  [or,  a  leader  of  the  people] ;  and  he 
wore  a  white  garment,  and  drank  no  wine,  and  ate  no  meat,  and  never 
cut  his  hair,  nor  did  he  trim  his  beard." 

Hegesippus,  a  Christian  historian,  who  wrote  about  A.  D. 
170,  is  cited  by  Eusebius  thus : 

"Hegesippus  also,  who  flourished  nearest  the  days  of  the  apostles,  in 
the  Fifth  Book  of  his  Commentaries  gives  the  most  accurate  account  of 
him  [i.  e.,  of  James  the  Just]  thus:  '  But  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord, 
who,  as  there  were  many  of  this  name,  was  surnamed  the  Just  by  all, 
from  the  days  of  our  Lord  until  now,  receiving  the  government  of  the 
Church  with  the  apostles.  This  apostle  was  consecrated  from  his 
mother's  womb.  He  drank  neither  wine  nor  fermented  liquors,  and 
abstained  from  animal  food.  A  razor  never  came  upon  his  head.  .  .  . 
He  alone  was  allowed  to  enter  the  sanctuary  [of  the  priests].  He  never 
wore  woolen,  but  linen  garments.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  entering  the 
temple  alone,  and  was  often  found  upon  his  bended  knees,  and  interced- 
ing for  the  forgiveness  of  his  people ;  so  that  his  knees  became  as  hard 
as  camels',  in  consequence  of  his  habitual  supplication  and  kneeling 
before  God.  And  indeed,  on  account  of  his  exceeding  great  piety,  he 
was  called  the  Just.'  "  ** 


«Gal.  11, 9.  *!^  Euseb.  E.H.,B.n,c.l.  «Actsxv,  13. 

«  Euseb.  E.  H.,  B.  11,  c.  23. 


324  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Clement  of  Rome,  the  companion  of  Paul,  in  the  sixth  book 
of  the  Institutions^  attributed  to  him,  says : 

Peter,  James,  and  John,  after  the  ascension  of  our  Savior,  though 
they  had  been  preferred  by  our  Lord,  did  not  contend  for  the  honor, 
but  chose  James  the  Just  as  Bishop  of  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  The  Lord 
imparted  the  gift  of  knowledge  to  James  the  Just,  to  John  and  Peter, 
after  his  resurrection ;  these  delivered  it  to  the  rest,  and  they  to  the 
Seventy,  of  vphom  Barnabas  was  one."  *^ 

In  the  Constitutions  of  the  Ajyostles^  Clement  gives  the 
following  declaration  as  being  official  from  James  the  Lord's 
brother : 

"I  James,  the  brother  of  Christ  according  to  the  flesh,  but  his 
servant  as  the  only  begotten  of  God,  and  the  one  appointed  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,"  *^  etc. 

Eusebius  says : 

"  James  being  the  first  that  received  the  dignity  of  the  episcopate  at 
Jei'usalem  from  the  Savior  himself,  as  the  sacred  Scriptures  show  that  he 
was  generally  called  the  brother  of  Christ."  *^ 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  having  cited  some  legendary  works 
relating  to  the  Lord's  brother,  says  : 

"Legends  gather  around  the  memory  of  great  men,  and  reveal  the 
deep  impression  they  made  upon  their  friends  and  followers.  The  char- 
acter which  shines  through  these  James-legends  is  that  of  a  loyal, 
zealous,  devout,  consistent  Hebrew  Christian,  who,  by  his  personal 
purity  and  holiness,  secured  the  reverence  and  affection  of  all  around 
him."  ""s 

g  233  Martyr-  Joscphus,  referring  to  the  year  A,  D.  63  as 

domofthe      ^j^g  jg^^g  ^f  James's  death,  mentions  the  Roman 

Lord's  Brother. 

procurator  of  Judaaa  as 

"  Festus  [who]  was  now  dead,  and  [his  successor]  Albinus  was  but 
upon  the  road  [from  Rome  to  Jerusalem  to  take  his  place];  so  he 
[Ananus]  assembled  the  Sanhedrin  of  Judges,  and  brought  before  them 
the  brother  of  Jesus  who  was  called  Christ,  whose  name  was  James, 
and  some  others  [companions] ;  and  when  he  had  formed  an  accusation 
against  them  as  breakers  of  the  law,  he  delivered  them  to  be  stoned. 

«  Euseb.  E.  H.  B.  11,  c.  1. 

«  Ante-Nicene  Falhrrs,  Vol.  Vll,  B.  vlll.     ConstUution  o/  Apostles,  c.  3.5,  p.  49fi, 
«  Euseb.  E.  H.,  B.  vll,  c.  19.  *^  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1,  208,  269. 


The  Apostles  of  Jp:sus  Chkist  and  Tiieik  Wokk.       325 

.  .  .  Whereupon  [after  his  arrival]  Albiniis  .  .  .  wrote  in  anger 
to  Ananus,  and  threatened  that  he  would  bring  him  to  punishment  for 
what  he  had  done ;  upon  which  King  Agrippa  [the  Second]  took  the 
high  priesthood  from  him  when  he  had  ruled  but  three  months."  ^^ 

Clement  of  Rome:  "  There  were  two  Jameses  ;  one  was  called  the 
Just,  who  was  thrown  from  the  wing  of  the  temple,  and  beaten  to  death 
with  a  fuller's  club;  and  another,  who  was  beheaded"^  in  A.  D.  44. 
See  Acts  xii,  1,  2. 

Hegesippus,  as  cited  by  Eusebius,  narrates  that  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  came  to  James  with  very  flattering  words,  and 
besought  him,  because  of  his  great  influence  with  the  people, 
to  use  it  in  recalling  them  from  their  faith  in  Jesus. 

They  "placed  James  upon  a  wing  of  the  temple,  and  cried  out:  '  O 
thou  just  man,  whom  we  all  ought  to  believe,  since  the  people  are  led 
astray  after  Jesus  that  was  crucified,  declare  unto  us.  What  is  the 
door  to  Jesus  that  was  crucified  ?'  And  he  answered  with  a  loud  voice : 
*  Why  do  you  ask  me  respecting  Jesus  the  Son  of  man  ?  He  is  now 
sitting  in  the  heavens  on  the  right  hand  of  Power,  and  will  come  on 
the  clouds  of  heaven.'  Then  the  people  shouted,  'Hosanna  to  the  son 
of  David.'  Thereupon  they  cast  him  down  from  the  temple,  saying, 
'  Let  us  stone  James  the  Just !'  As  he  did  not  die  immediately  when 
cast  down,  but  turning  around,  he  knelt  down  saying:  '  I  entreat  thee, 
O  Lord  God  and  Father,  foi-give  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do !' 
Thus  they  were  stoning  him  when  one  of  the  priests"  interposed,  and 
another  brained  him  while  he  was  praying  for  them.  "Immediately 
after  this  Vespasian  invaded  and  took  Judfea."  Eusebius  here  re- 
marks: "  Such  is  the  more  simple  testimony  of  Hegesippus,  in  which 
he  fully  coincides  with  Clement."  ^^ 

Eusebius  continues  :  "  The  Jews,  after  Paul  had  appealed  unto 
Cpesar,  and  he  had  been  sent  by  Festus  to  Rome,  frustrated  by  their 
hope  of  entrapping  him  by  the  snares  they  had  laid,  turned  themselves 
against  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  to  whom  the  Episcopal  seat  at 
Jerusalem  was  committed  by  the  apostles  .  .  .  For  Festus  about 
this  time  died  in  Judeea,  and  the  province  [of  Judaea]  was  without  a 
governor  or  head.  But  as  to  the  manner  of  James's  death,  it  has  been 
already  stated  in  the  words  of  Clement,  that  he  was  thrown  from  the  wing 
of  the  temple,  and  beaten  to  death  with  a  club."^^. 

Origen,  referring  to  the  prediction  of  Christ  concerning 

the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  says : 

"  It  is  recorded  that:  'When  ye  see  Jerusalem  compassed  about  by 
armies,  then  shall  ye  know  that  the  desolation  thereof  is  nigh.'     But  at 

*9Ant.  XX,  9,  1.  ^Euseb.  E.  H.,  B.  li,  c.  1.  ^^  lb.  B,  II,  c.  23. 

M/&.  B.  il,  c.  23. 


326         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

that  time  there  were  no  armies  around  Jerusalem,  encompassing 
and  inclosing  and  besieging  it.  For  the  siege  began  in  the  reign  of 
Nero,  and  lasted  till  the  government  of  Vespasian,  whose  son,  Titus, 
destroyed  Jerusalem,  as  Josephus  says,  on  account  of  James  the  Just, 
brother  of  Jesus  who  was  called  Christ;  but  in  reality,  as  the  truth 
makes  clear,  on  account  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God."^ 

§234  The  The  evidential  worth  of  these  testimonies  is 
Reviewed^  ^ery  considerable  in  substantiating  the  historical 
existence  and  antiquity  of  Jesus  and  James. 
1.  Whether  James  was  by  blood  the  half-brother  of 
Jesus,  and  next  to  him  in  birth,  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  dis- 
cussion. It  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  historicity  of  the  case 
that  James  was  in  any  sense  a  close  relative  of  Jesus,  though 
"  called  James,  the  Lord's  brother."  For  it  is  obvious  that  if 
there  was  no  historical  Christ,  no  one  could  be  called  the 
brother  of  Christ.  Josephus  names  "  James,  the  brother  of 
Jesus  who  is  called  Christ."  James,  in  an  episcopal  document, 
designates  himself  as  "  James,  the  brother  of  Christ  according 
to  the  flesh."  Paul  affirms  that  he  saw  at  Jerusalem  with 
Peter,  "James,  the  Lord's  brother."  Eusebius  mentions 
"  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  who  was  generally  called 
the  brother  of  Christ."  Clement,  who  agrees  with  Hegesip- 
pus  in  all  details  of  his  death,  calls  him  "  James  the  Just." 
Hegesippus  speaks  of  "  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  who 
was  surnamed  the  Just  by  all."  Origen,  citing  Josephus, 
mentions  "  James  the  Just,  the  brother  of  Jesus  who  was  called 

Christ." 

Kow,  this  constant  identification  and  characterization  of 
the  same  persons,  in  the  current  literature  of  different  persons, 
in  different  ages,  in  different  countries,  these  designations  can 
not  be  accidental  coincidents,  can  not  be  applied  to  fictitious 
personages,  can  not  be  unhistorical ;  for  more  decisive  language 
could  not  be  used  when  it  was  the  intention  to  convey  the 
thought  that  Jesus  and  James  were  brothers  by  blood,  having 

6s  Orig.  contra  Cels.  11,  13,  close,  and  Luke  xxl,  20. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  anb  Their  AVokk.       327 

the  same  mother.  It  thm  appears  that  not  only  Jesus  was 
known  as  the  Man  of  History^  hut  his  family  relations  were 
also  known  and  named,  herein  unmistakably  confirming  the 
Evangelists. 

2.  The  historical  antiquity  and  chronology  of  the  apos- 
tolate  are  also  conclusively  proved  by  these  testimonies.  Two 
distinct  references  are  made  to  the  death  of  James,  which  fix 
the  date  of  its  occurrence  quite  definitely.  Josephus  makes 
express  allusion  to  Ananus  the  younger,  who  is  said  to  have 
illegimately  assumed  the  high  priesthood  after  the  death  of 
the  procurator  Festus,  and  then  proceeded  to  instigate  the 
martyrdom  of  James  by  stoning.  For  this  procedure  he  was 
threatened  with  punishment  by  the  new  procurator  on  his 
arrival,  and  King  Agrippa  II,  who  was  charged  with  the 
temple  and  its  interests,  deposed  Ananus  at  the  end  of  three 
months  from  his  assumption  of  the  priestly  robes.  There  was 
considerable  of  an  interval  in  the  Roman  procuratorship  over 
Judaea,  between  the  ruling  of  the  Jews  by  Festus  who  had  died, 
and  that  of  his  successor,  Albinus,  before  his  arrival.  It  was 
during  this  interval,  when  the  country  was  without  a  Roman 
ruler,  that  James  the  Just  was  slain.  This  occurred  in  the 
year  63,^  or  soon  after.  Eusebius  mentions  the  event  briefly : 
"  Festus  about  this  time  died  in  Judaea,  and  the  province  was 
Avithout  a  governor  or  head,"  and  that  already  "Paul  had 
appealed  to  Caesar."  Hegesippus  places  the  date  of  James's 
death  somew^hat  later.  He  says :  "  Immediately  after  this 
[i.  e.  James's  death]  Yespasian  invaded  and  took  Judaea."  ISTow, 
this  invasion  actually  occurred  in  the  year  67.  ^  The  Emperor 
Nero  ordered  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  the  Jews.  But 
Kero  died  in  68,  when  Vespasian  being  then  in  Palestine, 
and  hearing  of  the  emperor's  death,  the  soldiers  of  his  com- 
mand at  once  proclaimed  Vespasian  emperor ;  whereupon  he 
handed  over  his  military  forces  to  his  son  Titus. 

64  Schaff,  ^is<.  Christ.  Ch.  1,  267.  ^^Ib.  1,  395. 


328         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


TV.  Miracles  "Wrought  in  Christ's   Kame. 
The  apostles,  going  before  the  nations  in  their  high  commis- 
sion from  Christ,  required  miraculous  credentials  to  be  success- 
ful.    The  world  was  a  bulwark  of  idolatries,  but- 

§  235.  Mira-  .  ' 

cies  in  tresscd  on  every  side  against  the  invasion  of  any 
Demand.  ^^^^  religion.  The  religion  of  a  revered  ancestry 
dominated  and  was  to  be  defended  at  all  hazards.  A  deep 
and  persistent  prejudice  was  permanently  inwrought  by 
tradition  and  education.  But  that  which  made  the  enterprise 
the  more  formidable  and  dangerous  was,  that  idolatory 
was  the  chosen  religion  of  the  Koman  Empire,  and  was 
so  incorporated  into  the  constitution  and  laws  of  government 
that  the  very  proposition  which  Christianity  had  to  offer  was 
held  to  be  high  treason  against  the  State.  The  established 
policy  of  the  empire,  of  which  the  emperor  in  person  was 
chief  pontiff,  the  civil  officers  of  the  several  provinces 
abroad,  the  armies  and  their  commanders  everywhere,  were 
committed  against  that  which  they  all  jealously  regarded  as  a 
criminal  invasion  of  the  government.  Upon  the  other  hand, 
the  Christian  religion  was  without  a  friend  at  the  court.  It 
had  not  even  the  sanction  of  an  earlier  antiquity  to  render  it 
respectable  in  their  eyes,  or  the  sanctity  of  an  ancestral  wor- 
ship to  make  it  acceptable.  It  had  no  nation  at  its  back  to 
enforce  its  claims  or  to  protect  its  subjects.  Unlike  Moham- 
med's movement,  it  had  neither  arms  nor  armies  to  invade 
and  make  conquest  of  whole  communities,  or  States  or  nations, 
by  force.  It  had  an  incomparably  better  mission;  but  it 
was  purely  a  mission  of  peace.  Its  only  method  was  that  of 
persuasion ;  was  an  appeal  to  the  personal  conscience  for  con- 
viction in  the  direction  of  right  doing,  and  to  the  resulting 
consciousness  of  supreme  satisfactions  in  a  nobler  life.  But 
to  secure  attention  at  all,  anywhere  and  everywhere,  the 
first  advocates  of  the  new  religion  must  produce  evidence 
of  advantages  superior  to  those    already   possessed.      They 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  Work.       329 

must  come  invested  with  a  divine  power,  known  not 
only  to  themselves,  but  with  an  ability  to  make  known 
their  supreme  claims  by  supernatural  signs  and  wonders  cor- 
responding, in  order  to  obtain  a  hearing  and  produce  convic- 
tion. How  could  the  apostles  possibly  succeed  except  they 
illustrate,  in  some  benevolent  way,  the  exercise  of  some 
sujKmatitral power  lohich  helonged  to  their  cause,  and  not  to 
themselves  ?  And  how  could  that  manifestation  of  power  be 
made  effectual  in  impression  otherwise  than  in  the  instantane- 
ous working  of  miracles  in  the  name  of  their  high  authority  ? 
Accordingly  miracles  were  at  once  the  credentials  of  the 
apostles,  commending  their  mission  to  the  world,  and  the 
attestation  of  the  supreme  authority  and  the  supernatural 
religion  of  Christ  in  his  relation  to  the  world. 

A  study  of  the  facts  associated  with  the  founding  of  the 
Christian  religion  embraces  the  history  of  miracles  as  con- 
tained in  the    New    Testament.      It    is    to   be 

§  236  Miracles 

specially  noted  that  those  wrought  by  the   apos-      in  cimst's 
ties  were  wrought  in  Christ's  name,  and  by  the  ^™®" 

power  with  which  he  had  invested  them.  *  They  expressly 
disclaimed  producing  miracles  by  their  own  power.  They 
were  wrought  in  the  direction  of  beneficence.  Jesus  had 
carefully  prepared  their  minds  for  this  responsibility  when  he 
said  to  them :  "  He  that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do 
shall  he  do  also,  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do."  ^ 
To  this  end,  he  charged  them  to  tarry  in  Jerusalem  until 
they  received  the  investiture  of  power,  having  the  promise  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  should  come  upon  them,  and  then  would  they 
be  qualified  to  bear  witness  for  him  unto  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth.  ^ 

Sometimes  these  miracles  are  recorded  in  general  terms, 


*SeG  $  143.  y  ).  As  the  general  subject  of  miracles  has  been  already  trav- 
ersed In  three  prior  chapters  of  this  work,  only  those  which  were  peculiarly 
the  apostles'  will  be  considered  here. 

MJohn  xlv,  12.  WLuke  xxiv,  49;  Acts,  1,  4,  8. 


830         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

and  sometimes  they  are  ascribed  to  individual  apostles  named. 
Sometimes  the  account  of  a  given  miracle  embraces  specific 
details  and  sometimes  very  many  miracles  are  massed  in  one 
§  237.  Miracles  general  statement.  After  the  pentecostal  man- 
Manifoid.  ifestations  were  realized,  "many  wonders  and 
signs  were  done  by  the  apostles."  ^  They  were  wonderful  for 
numbers,  and  for  the  insignificance  of  the  means  employed. 

"  Many  signs  and  wonders  were  wrought  among  the  people,  .  .  . 
insomuch  that  they  brought  forth  the  sick  into  the  streets,  and  laid 
them  on  beds  and  couches,  that  at  least  the  shadow  of  Peter  passing  by, 
might  overshadow  some  one  of  them.  There  came  also  a  multitude  from 
the  cities  round  about  Jerusalem,  bringing  sick  folk  and  them  that  were 
vexed  with  unclean  spirits;  and  they  were  healed  every  one."^^  "And 
God  wrought  special  miracles  by  the  hands  of  Paul,  so  that  from  his 
body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs  or  aprons ;  and  the 
diseases  departed  from  them,  and  the  evil  spirits  went  out  of  them."^" 

"To  the  Corinthian  Church  which  Paul  had  planted,  he 
wrote  from  Macedonia  about  the  year  57:  "Truly  the  signs 
of  the  apostle  were  wrought  among  you  in  all  patience,  by 
signs  and  wonders  and  mighty  works."  *^ 

The  interesting  and  valuable  fact  may  here  be  recalled,  that 
while  the  enemies  of  Christianity  for  the  first  four  centuries 
„, .  „    ,  did  not  deny  the  occurrence  of  miracles,  thev 

§238.  Explana-  -^  _  'J 

tionofthe  admitted  wonderful  things  did  happen  by  the 
hands  of  the  apostles,  which  they  felt  that  they 
must  explain.  In  a  word,  they  endeavored  to  explain  the 
miracles  wrought  in  their  times  by  ascribing  them  to  magic 
or  sorcery.  It  is,  however,  stated  by  an  unknown  Arabic 
writer,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  philosopher,  that,  "  in  the 
practice  of  virtue,  they  [the  apostles]  surpass  the  pliilosophers  • 
.  .  .  in  the  genuine  performance  of  miracles,  they  infinitely 
excel  them."  ^  Celsus  asserts  that  "  it  is  by  the  names  of  demons 
and  by  the  use  of  incantations  that  the  Christians  appear  to 
be  possessed  of   [miraculous]   power."  "^     Porphyry  calls  the 

68  Acts  11,  43.  ''9/6.  V,  12, 15, 16.  «"76.  xlx,  11,  12.  6' 2  Cor.  xli,  12. 

62 See  "Galen,"  in  Smith  and  Wace's  Diet,  of  Christ.  Biograjihy. 
«  Orig.  con.  Cels.  1,  6. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  Work.       331 

apostles  "ignorant  and  indigent  men  [who],  because  they  had 
nothing,  performed  some  signs  by  magical  art,  which  is  no 
great  matter,  for  the  magicians  in  Egypt,  and  many  others, 
have  wrought  signs.  Let  it  be  granted  that  the  apostles 
wrought  signs."  ^  Julian  the  emperor  wrote  that  the  Chris- 
tians "  have  introduced  a  body  of  wonderful  works,  to  give  it 
the  appearance  of  truth.  .  .  .  Paul  also  exceeded  all  jug- 
glers and  impostors  that  ever  were."  "^ 
The  Talmud  relates  that  of  miracles — 

"There  is  an  example  in  the  son  of  Dama,  nephew  of  R.  Ismael,  by 
his  sister.  When  he  had  been  bitten  by  a  serpent,  James  of  Schechania 
came  to  heal  him.  But  Rabbi  Ismael  did  not  allow  it  to  be  done.  The 
son  of  Dama  said  to  R.  Ismael:  'O  Rabbi  Ismael,  my  uncle,  let  me  be 
healed  by  him.  I  will  allege  a  text  out  of  the  Law  which  allows  it.' 
But  before  he  had  finished  all  he  would  say,  he  expired.  Thereupon 
Ismael  pi'onounced  this  speech  over  him:  'Thou  art  happy,  O  son  of 
Dama ;  for  thy  body  has  remained  pure,  and  thy  soul  has  gone  pure  out 
of  it ;  and  thou  hast  not  transgressed  the  words  of  thy  brethren.'  "^ 

The  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  affirms: 

"A  child  of  the  son  of  Rabbi  Joses,  son  of  Levi,  swallowed  a  some- 
what poisonous.  There  came  a  man  who  pronounced  some  words  to 
him,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  .  .  .  and  he  was  healed.  And  when  he 
was  going  away,  R.  Josea  said  unto  him,  'What  word  did  you  use?' 
He  answered,  such  a  word.  R.  Joses  said  unto  him :  '  Better  had  it  been 
for  him  to  die  than  to  hear  such  a  word.'  And  so  it  happened  ;  that  is, 
he  died  at  once  !  "  "^^ 

The  first  of  these  two  Talmudic  testimonies  is  inserted 
here  as  illustrative  of  the  power  of  the  early  Christians  to 
work  miracles,  and  no  less  the  gracious  design  to  be  a  blessing 
to  their  Jewish  enemies;  and  upon  the  other  hand,  the  ungra- 
cious and  vindictive  spirit  in  which  their  efforts  of  love  were 
received,  that  death  was  preferred  to  life  saved  by  a  Christian 
miracle.  As  nothing  is  known  of  the  home  residence  of  either 
James,  no  opinion  can  be  formed  as  to  which  James,  if  either 
is  here  referred  to.  In  the  second  case,  there  is  manifested 
the  same  old  hatred  to  Jesus  Christ,  in  whose  name  the  mira- 
cles were  wrought,  carried  to  the  same  extreme.     But  thus 

M  Lard,  vll,  142.  65  75.  622. 

M  Tal.  Jerus.  Avoda,  Sara  40,  d.  fol.  27,  col.  2,  med. 

6'i7>.  Tr.  Sabbat.  Pugio  Fidei,  p.  170. 


332         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

were  they  taught,  and  so  did  they  feel,  as  furnished  by  their 

Rabbis,  in  the  work  which  they  hold  as  their  highest  authority, 

their  Talmud. 

To  these  Jewish  testimonies  may  be  added  that  of  the 

modern  Jewish  historian,  Dr.  Heinrich  Graetz,  professor  in  the 

University  of  Breslau,  Prussia,  who  says : 

"Christianity,  only  just  born,  went  forth  upon  a  career  of  conquest 
and  proselytism.  The  disciples  asserted  that  Jesus  had  imparted  the 
power  of  healing  the  sick,  of  awaking  the  dead,  and  of  casting  out  evil 
spirits.  With  them  the  practice  of  exorcism  became  habitual,  and  thus 
the  belief  in  the  power  of  Satan  and  demons,  brought  from  Galilee,  first 
took  form  and  root.  .  .  .  The  early  Christians  used,  or  rather  misused, 
the  name  of  Jesus,  for  the  purposes  of  incantation  .  .  .  Exorcism 
by  degi*ees  became  a  constant  practice  among  the  Christians."^ 

In  corroboration  of  the  foregoing  testimonies  relating  to 

miraculous  power  and  work  on  the  part  of  the  apostles  and 

§239.  origen    their  successors,  the  recorded  testimony  of  Ori- 

conflrms.       ggj^  respecting  miracles  wrought  in  his  own  time 

is  now  due.     Origen  wrote  about  A.  D.  240-245.     He  says: 

"We,  if  we  deem  this  a  matter  of  importance,  can  clearly  show  a 
countless  multitude  of  Greeks  and  Barbarians  who  acknowledge  the 
existence  of  Jesus.  And  some  give  evidence  of  having  received,  through 
this  faith,  a  marvelous  power  by  the  cures  which  they  perform,  invoking 
no  other  name  over  those  who  need  their  help  than  that  of  the  God  of 
all  things,  and  of  Jesus,  along  with  the  mention  of  his  history.  For  hy 
these  means  we,  too,  have  seen  many  persons  freed  from  grievous  calamities, 
and  from  distractions  of  mind,  and  madness,  and  countless  other  ills,  which 
could  be  cured  neither  by  men  nor  devils."  ^^ 

Here  are  admissions  of  the  miraculous  power  exercised  by 
the  early  Christians  for  curing  fatal  diseases,  "the  power  of 
healing  the  sick,  awaking  the  dead,  and  casting 
^'^'  out  demons;"  "a  constant  practice  among  the 
Christians"  at  that  time.  But  in  explanation,  the  adversaries 
superstitiously  attribute  these  works  to  "incantation"  or  to 
"the  belief  in  the  power  of  Satan."'"  The  curious  question 
arises,  "Why  this  preference  as  to  the  source  of  power  ?    Ees- 

68  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  I,  p.  170.  "*  Orig.  contra  Cels.  Ill,  24. 

'OMatt.  Ix,  32,  34;  xll,  22,  80;  Mark  Hi,  22,  30. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  "Work.       333 

cuing  the  poisoned  by  a  word,  "healing  the  sick,  awaking  the 
dead,  and  casting  out  demons,"  are  pure  miracles  in  fact, 
though  called  by  any  other  name.  It  is  the  same  old  charge 
which  Jesus  refuted  when  his  opposers  ascribed  the  miracles 
which  he  himself  wrought  to  Satan.  Miracles  were  helpful 
to  the  ministry  of  the  apostles  and  their  successors  in  opening 
the  new  epoch  known  as  the  Christian  era;  and  when  they 
had  done  their  work  for  the  world,  they  were  retired.  The 
evidence  of  experience  and  Christian  consciousness  replaced 
the  external  evidence  of  miracles.  This  was  the  deeper, 
because  the  internal  proof  of  the  Christian  religion,  precisely 
where  all  other  religions  fail ;  ultimate,  because  it  was  personal 
affecting  the  character  and  the  life  of  the  individual  believing 
in  Christ. 

V.  Ministry  of  the  Apostles  to  the  Nations. 
The  student  of   the  New   Testament  will  readily  recall 
Christ's  commission  intrusted  to  his  apostles:  "Go  ye  there- 
fore and  make  disciples  of  all  nations."     "And 

„        -  ,  8  241.  Ministry 

they  went  forth  and  preached  everywhere,  the  of  the  Apostles 
Lord  working  with  them  and  confirming  the  ^°^^' 

word  with  signs  following."'^  It  is  now  in  place  to  observe 
how  the  work  of  the  apostolate  progressed,  and  how  the  doc- 
trines and  practice  of  the  Christian  religion  became  diffused 
abroad  among  mankind,  under  the  ministry  of  the  apostles 
and  their  immediate  successors  during  the  first  three  centuries. 
Waiving  mere  opinions  which  are  not  eviden-    §242.  The 

°  ^  Voice  of 

tial,  and  crediting  the  facts  conceded  touching     DisbeUef. 
the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity,  we  begin  with  Tacitus. 

"At  first  only  those  were  arrested  who  acknowledged  [themselves 
Christians].  Next,  on  their  information  a  vast  number  [of  others]  were 
convicted  [of  being  Christians]." ^^  Pliny  affirms  that  "Many  of  every 
age,  of  every  rank,  and  of  either  sex,  are  exposed  and  will  be  exposed  to 
danger.  Nor  has  the  contagion  of  the  superstition  been  confined  to  the 
cities,  but  it  extends  to  the  villages,  and  even  to  the  [open]  country. 

"  Matt,  xxvili,  19;  iropevd^vre^  oSv  fiadriTeuaaTc  ir&vra  rd  edvi),  Mark  xvl,  20. 
1^ Annals,  xv,  44;  comp.  Matt,  xxiv,  9, 10. 


334         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  temples  had  already  been  deserted  and  the  victims  heretofore  could 
hardly  find  a  purchaser.  .  .  .  From  this  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what 
a  multitude  of  men  might  be  retained,  if  pardon  should  be  ailorded  to 
those  who  repent'^  [of  following  Christ]."  Lucian  exclaims:  "  Pontus 
is  full  of  Atheists  and  Christians!"^*  Julian  writes:  "Many  of  you,  it 
seems,  I  have  offended — in  a  manner  all  of  you:  the  Senate,  the  rich, 
the  people.  The  greatest  part  of  the  people,  or  rather  the  whole  of  them, 
are  offended  at  me  because  they  love  impiety,  and  they  see  that  I  embrace 
and  adhere  to  the  religion  of  my  ancestors."  ^^  "A  great  multitude  of 
men  in  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Italy  were  seized  with  this  distemper."  ''* 
Josephus  alleges  that  "  Jesus  was  a  teacher  of  such  as  received  the  truth 
with  gladness.  He  carried  away  with  him  many  of  the  Jews  and  also 
of  the  Greeks.""  Toledotli  Jeshu  concedes  that  "Israel  went  after 
him,  and  some  of  them  were  reputable  people  who  confirmed  the  doc- 
trine of  Jeshu  [/.  e.,  Jesus]  and  declared  that  they  were  his  messengers; 
and  they  gathered  unto  them  a  vast  multitude  of  Israel ;  that  the 
number  of  his  disciples  amounted  to  two  thousand  ;  that  the  belief  in 
him  increased  more  and  more  for  thirty  years  after  his  death ;  that  his 
followers  were  called  Nazarenes ;  and  that  the  belief  in  Jesus  became 
strong  and  spread  abroad  until  they  numbered  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands." 

Clement  of  Rome  says:  "Saint  Paul  preached  both  in  the  East  and 
in  the  West,  taught  the  whole  world  righteousness,  and  traveled  to  the 

utmost  bounds  of  the  West."^*  Ignatius  of  Antioch 
§243.  Con-  mentions  "bishops  that  are  settled  in  the  farthest  parts 
Christians      '^^  *^^^  earth." ^^    Justin  Martyr  of  Palestine  says:  "There 

is  not  a  single  race  of  men,  whether  Barbarians  or  Greeks, 
or  those  dwelling  in  wagons,  or  without  houses,  or  such  as  dwell  in 
tents,*"  among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgiving  are  not  offered  to  the 
Father  and  Creator  of  all  things  through  the  name  of  the  crucified 
Jesus. "^^  Irenseus  of  Lyons  wrote:  "The  Church,  though  dispersed 
throughout  the  whole  world,  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  has  received 
from  the  apostles  and  their  disciples  this  faith."  "^  Tertullian  of  Car- 
thage said:  "We  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  we  have  filled  every  place 
among  you ;  [your]  cities,  islands,  fortresses,  towns,  market-places,  the 
camp,  tribes,  companies,  palace,  Senate,  Forum:  we  have  left  you  noth- 
ing but  the  temples  of  your  gods."^  "The  outcry  is  that  the  State  is 
filled  with  Christians ;  that  they  are  in  the  fields,  in  the  citadels,  in  the 
islands.  They  [the  accusers]  make  lamentation  as  for  some  calamity, 
that  both  sexes,  every  age  and  condition,  even  high  rank,  are  passing 
over  to  the  profession  of  the  Christian  faith."***    "  For  upon  whom  else 


"  Official  Epis.  to  Trajan.    See  Append.,  Excursus  B, 

i^Lard.  vil,  2*},  284,  '6  Misopngon,  lb.  vli,  6-17.  ''^ lb.  628. 

IT  Ant.  xvlli,  3,  3.  i^Epis.  to  Cor.  c.  5;  coinp.  Phtlipp.  iv,  3. 

1^ Epis.  to  Eph.  c.  3.  ^' Afx.a^oliiu}v=nomad  tribes. 

8»  Dialogue  with  Tryphon,  c.  117.  ^Heresies,  c.  10, 1. 

83^poJ.  C.37.  8«/6.  c.  1. 


The  Apostlks  of  Jesus  Chkist  and  Theik  Work.       335 

have  the  [univei-sal]  nations  believed  but  upon  the  Christ  who  is  already 
come?  For  whom  have  the  nations  believed:  Parthians,  Medes,  Elam- 
ites,  and  they  who  inhabit  Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  Phrygia,  Cappadocia, 
and  they  who  dwell  in  Pontus,  and  Asia,  and  Pamphylia,  tarriers  in 
Egypt,  and  inhabiters  in  the  region  of  Africa  which  is  beyond  Cyrene, 
Romans  and  sojourners;  yes,  and  in  Jerusalem  Jews,  and  all  other 
nations.  ...  In  all  places  the  name  of  Christ  who  is  already  come 
reigns,  as  of  him  by  whom  the  gates  of  all  cities  have  been  opened,  and 
to  whom  none  are  closed,  before  whom  iron  bars  have  been  crumbled, 
and  brazen  gates  opened.  ...  In  all  these  places  dwell  the  people 
of  the  name  of  Christ."^  "For  if  such  multitudes  of  men  wei-e  to 
break  away  from  you,  and  betake  themselves  to  some  remote  corner  of 
the  world,  why,  the  very  loss  of  so  many  citizens  .  .  .  would  cover 
the  empire  with  shame  ;  nay,  in  the  very  forsaking,  vengeance  would  be 
inflicted.  Why,  you  would  be  horror-stricken  at  the  solitude  in  which 
you  would  find  yourselves  at  such  all-prevailing  silence,  and  that  stupor 
as  of  a  dead  world.  You  would  have  to  seek  subjects  to  govern.  You 
would  have  more  enemies  than  citizens  remaining.  For  now  it  is  the 
immense  number  of  Christians  which  makes  our  enemies  so  few ;  almost 
all  the  inhabitants  of  your  various  cities  being  followers  of  Christ."*^ 

Origen  of  Alexandria  shall  speak  the  final  word  on  the 
success  of  the  Gospel  up  to  his  time.  Writing  a  little  more 
than  two  centuries  after  the  crucifixion,  this  eminent  and 
learned  apologist  said: 

"Any  one  who  examines  will  see  that  Jesus  attempted  and  success- 
fully accomplished  works  beyond  the  reach  of  human  power.  For 
although,  from  the  very  beginning,  all  things  opposed  the  spread  of  his 
doctrine  in  the  world,  both  the  princes  of  the  times,  and  their  chief 
captains  and  generals,  and  all — to  speak  generally — who  were  possessed 
of  the  smallest  influence ;  and  in  addition  to  these,  the  rulers  of  the 
different  cities,  and  the  soldiei-s,  and  the  people ;  yet  it  proved  victori- 
ous, as  being  the  WORD  OF  GOD,  the  nature  of  which  is  such  that  it 
can  not  be  hindered ;  and  becoming  more  powerful  than  all  such  adver- 
saries, it  made  itself  master  of  the  whole  of  Greece,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  barbarian  lands,  and  converted  countless  souls  to  his  relig- 
ion."*^ "But  the  God  who  sent  Jesus,  dissipated  all  the  conspiracies 
of  the  demons,  and  made  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  to  prevail  throughout  the 
whole  world,  for  the  conversion  and  reformation  of  men ;  and  caused 
the  Churches  to  be  everywhere  established  in  opposition  to  those  of 
superstition  and  licentiousness  and  wicked  men ;  for  such  is  the  char- 
acter of  the  multitudes  who  constitute  the  citizens  in  the  assemblies  of 
various  cities;  .  .  ,  for  who  would  not  admit  that  even  the  inferior 
members  of  the  Church,  and  those  who  in  comparison  with  the  better 

86  A  ns.  to  Jews,  c.  7.  ^Apol.  c.  37.  87  Contra.  Cels.  1,  27. 

22 


336         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

are  less  worthy,  are  nevertheless  more  excellent  than  many  of  those 
who  belong  to  the  assemblies  in  different  districts?"^  "  Chi-istians  do 
not  neglect,  so  far  as  in  them  lies,  to  take  measures  to  disseminate  their 
doctrine  throughout  the  whole  world.  Some  of  them  accordingly  have 
made  it  their  business  to  itinerate,  not  only  through  cities,  but  even 
villages  and  country  houses,  that  they  might  make  converts  to  God." 
"At  the  present  day,  indeed,  when,  owing  to  the  multitude  of  Christian 
believers,  not  only  rich  men,  but  persons  of  rank  and  delicate  and 
high-born  ladies  receive  the  teachings  of  Christianity."**^ 

In  the  temporal  sense,  the  success  of  Christianity  culmi- 
nated when  it  had  effected  a  conquest  over  the  idolatrous 
§  244.  Chris-  sjstcm  which  had  been  incorporated  into  the 
th  ^Roman    government  of  Eome,  when  all  oppositions  and 

Empire.  persecutions  were  disallowed  by  law,  and  when 
Christianity  had  itself  become  the  established  religion  of  the 
State,  under  Constantine  the  Great.  This,  however,  did  not 
all  come  to  pass  suddenly,  but  was  the  progressive  development 
of  some  years.  Although  Constantine  did  not  identify  himself 
personally  with  the  Christian  Church  until  just  prior  to  his 
death  in  337,  he  issued  several  imperial  decrees  which  led  up  to 
the  adoption  of  the  Christian  religion  by  the  empire.  The  first 
Edict  of  Toleration  was  issued  in  A.  D.  311,  which  put  an  end 
to  persecutions.  The  second  Edict  of  Toleration  was  issued  in 
313,  which  was  preparative  for  legal  protection  and  final  rec- 
ognition. The  Mcene  Council  assembled  in  325,  over  which 
the  emperor  presided  in  person;  a  Council  which  has  been 
properly  designated  "  the  solemn  inauguration  of  the  Imperial 
State-Church."  «> 

"  In  312,  Constantine,  in  conjunction  with  his  Eastern  colleague, 
Licinius,  had  published  an  Edict  of  Religious  Toleration  not  now  ex- 
tant. ...  In  January,  313,  the  two  emperors  issued  from  Milan  a 
new  Edict  (the  third)  on  religion,  still  extant,  both  in  Latin  and  Greek,  in 
which  in  the  spirit  of  religious  eclecticism  they  granted  full  freedom  of 
all  existing  forms  of  woi'ship  with  special  reference  to  the  Christian. 
This  religion  the  Edict  not  only  recognized  in  its  existing  limits,  but 
also— what  neither  the  first  nor  perhaps  the  second  had  done — allowed 
every  heathen  subject  to  adopt  with  impunity.     At  the  same  time  the 

8«  Contra.  Ccls.  Ill,  29,  8»  Tb.  Ill,  9. 

90  See  SchafT,  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  II ;  Preface,  p.  v. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Curist  and  Their  AVorx.       ooJ 

church  buildings  and  property,  [previously]  confiscated  in  the  Diocletian 
persecution,  were  ordered  to  be  restored,  and  private  property  owners 
to  be  indemnified  from  the  imperial  treasury."  In  March,  313,  "  he 
exempted  the  Christian  clergy  from  military  and  municipal  duty ; 
abolished  various  customs  and  ordinances  offensive  to  Christians  in  315; 
facilitated  the  emancipation  of  Christian  slaves  [before  316]  ;  legalized 
bequests  to  Catholic  Churches  in  321 ;  .  .  .  contributed  liberally  to 
building  churches  and  the  support  of  the  clergy ;  erased  the  heathen 
symbols  of  Jupiter  and  Apollo,  Mars  and  Hercules,  from  imperial  coins 
(323) ;  and  gave  his  sons  a  Christian  education.  .  .  .  The  emperor 
now  issued  a  general  exhortation  to  his  subjects  to  embrace  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  still  leaving  them,  however,  to  their  own  conviction, 
.     .     .     in  324." 

"The  first  Edict  of  Toleration,  A.  D.  311,  made  an  end  of  persecu- 
tion ;  the  second  Edict  of  Toleration,  313,  prepared  the  way  for  legal 
recognition  and  protection ;  the  Nicene  Council,  325,  marks  the  solemn 
inauguration  of  the  Imperial  State-Church.^^ 

Such  was  the  progress  and  the  success  of  Christianity 
which  attended  the  apostles'  preaching  Christ's  Gospel  to  the 
nations.     What  account,  then,  do  the  historical 

'  '  8  245.  The 

Scriptures  of  the  I^ew  Testament  give  of  the  scriptural 
apostles'  ministry  and  miracles,  which  history 
records  as  opening  such  a  new  and  amazing  era  to  the  world? 
First,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem,  which  dates  the 
occasion  of  their  first  investiture  of  power  and  spiritual  coro- 
nation, the  apostles  stood  up  before  the  vast  multitudes  assem- 
bled, and  received  from  heaven  each  a  flaming  crown.*^  The 
fruit  of  their  first  day's  labor  for  Christ  and  Christianity,  at 
the  metropolis  of  the  Jews,  was  three  thousand  souls.*'  A  few 
days  later,  "a  notable  miracle"  was  wrought — the  first  dis- 
tinctively known  by  the  apostles — and  five  thousand  converts 
were  added  to  the  Church.^  Then  "a  great  company  of  priests 
became  obedient  to  the  f aith ;" ®^  after  that,  "believers  were 
added  to  the  Church,  multitudes  of  both  men  and  women;"* 
then  there  were  "  myriads  "^^  of  Jews  who  gladly  accepted  the 
Christian  doctrine  and  life.  The  jealousy  of  the  Jews,  how- 
ever, now  found  its  expression  in  persecutions  vehement  and 

»ii7is<.  Christ.  Church,  Vol.  Hi,  29-32;  Preface  to  Vol.  II,  p.  1.       92  Acts  li,  3,  etc. 
M/6. 11,  41.       M/6.iv,4.        » lb.  vi,7.        wjft.  v,  14.       ^t  Mvpidde^,  Ib.xxi,20. 


338         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

fierce,  and  full  of  fanaticism.  They  seized  some  of  the  Twelve 
and  inprisoned  them;^  they  beat  and  threatened  them.* 
Herod  Agrippa  I,  having  arrested  Peter,  and  James,  the 
brother  of  John,  intended  to  have  them  slain,  James  was  be- 
headed, Peter  was  incarcerated,  but  found  deliverance  through 
the  interposition  of  an  angel.^'^  Stephen  was  stoned  to  death  .^°^ 
Saul  of  Tarsus  "made  havoc  of  the  Church,"  and  continued 
"breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter." ^"^-^  At  length  the 
apostles  of  the  Lord,  as  he  had  enjoined  upon  them  scattered, 
abroad  to  other  cities  and  nations,  but  continued  their  preach- 
ing and  miracles  as  they  went. 

Very  soon  the  city  of  Antioch,  in  Syria,  became  the  great 
center  of  the  Gentile  Christians,  as  Jerusalem  had  been  the 
great  center  of  the  Jewish  Christians.  From  this  geograph- 
ical point,  Paul,  Parnabas,  and  Silas  planned  and  executed  ex- 
tensive missionary  journeys  abroad  in  the  interests  of  Christian- 
ity and  humanity.  They  traversed  the  Roman  provinces  em- 
braced in  Asia  Minor,  and  along  the  coast  of  Eastern  Europe, 
organizing  mission  stations  in  the  various  communities,  civili- 
zations, and  States,  and  in  the  larger  centers  and  capitals,  offer- 
ing the  salvation  of  the  gospel  first  to  the  Jews,  and  after- 
wards to  the  Gentiles.  And  wherever  they  went  many  souls 
were  won  to  the  Lord.  To  this  end,  they  traversed  lands,  and 
seas,  and  islands,  publishing  Christ's  name  and  love. 

They  touched  at  cities  made  forever  famous  in  classic 
story,  announcing  the  glad  tidings  of  a  Savior  come,  who  was 
"the  Desire  of  Nations."  There  were  "Mitylene,  the  beauti- 
ful;" Chios,  the  birthplace  of  Homer;  Samos,  where  JEsop, 
the  immortal  fabulist,  first  opened  his  eyes  upon  the  world; 
Miletus,  the  home  of  Thales,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of 
Greece;  Athens,  the  seat  of  learning  and  culture  before  the 
world,  "the  very  eye  of  Greece,"  where  Euclid  wrought  out 
his  geometric  propositions;    where   Demosthenes  thundered 

«8  Acts  Iv,  8.  99/6.  V,  40 ;  Iv,  17,  18.  lO"  lb.  v,  xii. 

iM  J6.  vii,  68.  '02/6.  vill,  1-3;  Ix,  1. 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  AVork.       339 

forth  his  eloquence  against  Philip;  where  the  genius  of 
Phidias  and  Praxiteles  and  Alcamedes  embodied  their  fame  in 
the  beautiful  arts  on  marbles,  as  enduring  as  time.  There 
were  Macedonia,  where  Aristotle  was  born;  and  Philippi, 
where  Augustus  and  Mark  Antony  triumphed  in  battle  over 
Brutus  and  Cassius ;  and  Actium,  where  Antony  and  Cleopatra 
conjointly  were  defeated  by  Octavius;  and  Ephesus,  where 
Alexander  the  Great  proffered  all  his  spoils  of  war  in  Asia  for 
the  privilege  of  carving  his  own  name  upon  the  great  temple 
of  Diana,  "  one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World."  Then, 
there  were  Egypt,  the  university  of  the  nations,  and  its  vast 
Alexandrian  library;  Italy,  wherein  centered  the  great  mili- 
tary power  which  ruled  the  world ;  where  Cicero  spoke  in  his 
charming  eloquence;  where  Sallust  and  Livy,  Horace  and 
Ovid  and  Yirgil  thought,  or  wrote,  or  sung.  And  there  was 
old  Rome  itself,  the  world-capital,  in  which  the  first  pagan 
persecutions  began  under  Nero,  and  near  which  they  also 
ended.  These  capitals  and  cities,  among  others,  were  cap- 
tured soon  by  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  in  turn  became  centers 
of  the  new  and  Christly  influence.  How  effectual  was  the 
work  may  be  best  understood  by  the  Jews'  outcry  in  opposi- 
tion at  Thessalonica :  "These  that  have  turned  the  world  up- 
side down  are  come  hither  also."  Meantime,  Tacitus  at 
Rome,  the  greatest  of  Roman  historians,  records  that  the 
Christian  religion,  though  suppressed  for  a  brief  time,  was 
that  "pernicious  superstition  which  had  burst  forth  again," 
and  spread  from  Juda}a  to  the  capital  of  the  empire,  and  that 
"a  vast  multitude"  were  convicted  of  the  crime  of  being: 
Christians !  And  the  younger  Pliny,  entering  upon  the  gov- 
ernment of  Pontus  and  Bithynia,  reports  to  the  emperor 
that  "  the  contagion  of  the  superstition "  had  spread  through 
the  cities  and  the  land,  so  that  "many  of  every  age  and  every 
rank,  and  of  either  sex,  were  exposed  to  the  danger"  of  the 
inflictions  of  persecutors. 


340  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testainient. 

Meantime,  Christianity  was  bitterly  opposed   by  several 

schools  of  philosophy — the  Cynics,  the  Epicureans,  the  Neo- 

Platonists,  and   the  Eclectics — as  if   by  a  coali- 

§  246.  Obsta-  '  -^  . 

ciesand  tion.  The  literature  of  the  day  assailed  the 
pposi  ions.  Q]^j.^g^j^^  religion,  Celsus,  of  the  Epicurean  or 
Eclectic  school,  taking  counsel  of  his  prejudices  and  of  the 
Jews'  malice,  wrote  a  treatise  to  break  the  power  of  Christ, 
whom  he  did  not  hesitate  to  call  "an  impostor,"  verifying 
and  vindicating  the  predictive  statement  of  the  devout  and 
just  Simeon:  "  Behold,  this  Child  is  set  for  the  falling  and  the 
rising  of  many  in  Israel,  and  for  a  sign  that  w^ill  be  spoken 
against."  Lucian,  his  contemporary,  the  universal  infidel  re- 
specting all  religions,  wasted  his  impotent  scorn  on  the  poor 
Christians,  calling  their  religion  "the  latest  folly  in  the  world's 
great  madhouse."  Julian  the  Emperor,  known  as  the  "Apos- 
tate," acknowledged  that  the  Senate,  the  rich,  aye,  "the 
greatest  part  of  the  people,  or  rather  the  whole  of  them,  were 
in  love  with  impiety,"  for  rejecting  and  condemning  the  mon- 
strous fraud  of  the  pagan  gods  elected  by  the  State ;  and  he 
affirms  that  "  a  great  multitude  of  men  in  Greece  and  Italy 
were  seized  with  this  [mental]  distemper."  The  rabbinical 
work  called  Toledoth  Jeshu  admits  that  the  Christian  converts 
within  thirty  years  of  Christ's  crucifixion,  "  became  strong,  and 
spread  abroad  until  they  numbered  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands."  These  are  the  witness  of  foes  outside  the  Chris- 
tian world.  In  confirmation  of  their  testimony  is  that  of 
Clement  and  Ignatius^  of  Justin  and  Ire7UBus,  and  of  Ter- 
tullian  and  Origen,  who  enter  into  the  minutiae  of  the  Chris- 
tian life,  as  known  from  the  interior  standpoint  of  ancient 
Christendom. 

And  with  what  forces  in  the  field  did  Christianity  meet 
this  coalition  of  its  adversaries  from  the  seats  of  literature  and 
philosophy?  Without  arsenals  or  armies,  without  friends  or 
wealth  or  influence,  it  opposed  the  sanctity  of  ancestral  re- 
ligions, the  prejudice  of  contempt  for  a  "new"  worship,  which 


The  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Their  "VVokk.       341 

had  for  its  object  an  unseen  and  "unknown  God,"  and  the 
constant  presence  and  demands  of  Koman  law  and  imperial 
armies  which  stood  across  its  path  of  progress.  Yet  it  did 
more  than  win  hearts  by  the  multitude ;  it  destroyed  the  im- 
ages of  the  heathen  gods,  and  overthrew  the  altars  dedicated 
to  them.  It  swept  away  the  religious  systems  of  ancient  pa- 
ganism, born  of  a  degenerate  human  nature,  full  of  degrading- 
superstitions  and  depraving  sensualities — systems  which  had 
required  whole  generations  and  ages  to  grow  into  form,  and 
incorporate  into  laws,  and  organize  into  institutions  of  the 
State.  It  caused  the  sacred  temples,  which  had  become 
dimmed  and  hoary  with  the  sanctity  and  services  of  past  an- 
tiquities, to  be  vacated  by  their  votaries,  and  abandoned  to  be 
the  abode  of  the  bat  and  the  midnight  owl.  Within  three 
centuries  of  the  crucifixion  it  had  won  its  way  by  virtue  of  its 
intrinsic  worth,  permeating  whole  populations  of  the  continents^ 
and  so  changing  the  course  of  history  that,  when  Constantine 
came  to  the  throne  as  the  sole  ruler  of  the  empire,  the  world 
was  prepared  for  the  great  change  to  come,  and,  seizing  the 
diadem  of  the  Caesars,  placed  it  upon  the  imperial  brow  of  this 
follower  of  the  lowly  Nazarene — the  first  Christian  emperor. 
That  old  government  which  was  once  the  synonym  for  power, 
with  its  horrible  dungeons  and  tortures,  its  stakes  and  crosses 
wherewith  to  punish  the  Christians,  has  long  since  gone  down 
to  the  dust  and  perished  from  before  the  eyes  of  men.  But 
from  its  ancient  ruins  there  have  risen  unto  Jesus,  the  once 
despised,  crucified  One,  but  now  "  the  King,  eternal,  immortal, 
invisible,  the  only  wise  God,"  "a  dominion,  and  a  glory,  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people  and  nations  and  languages  should 
serve  him;  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion  which 
shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  shall  not  be  destroyed." 

"The  gospel,  preached  by  men  without  name,  without  study,  with- 
out eloquence,  cruelly  persecuted,  and  destitute  of  all  human  support, 
did  not  fail  to  get  established  in  a  short  time  throughout  the  whole 
world.  It  is  a  fact  which  nobody  can  deny,  and  a  fact  which  proves  that 
the  work  was  of  God." 


342         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

inductions. 

1.  Christianity  possesses  an  Historical  Monument  in  the  Kame 

of  its  great  Founder. 

2.  Christ's  apostles  are  accorded  a  place  in  history  even  by  his 

worst  adversaries. 

3.  Success  among  the  nations  was  ever  secured  by  Divine 

Truth,  attested  by  miracles. 

4.  Permanency  was  insured  by  the  power  of  conscious  experi- 

ence and  life  in  believers. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 
CHRISTIANS. 

I.  Heathen  Opinions  of  Christians  and  Christianity. 

o)   Opinions  reflected  by  Epictetus,  Tacitus,  Pliny,  Suetonius, 

Antoninus,  Galen,  Porphyry,  and  Julian. 
/3)   Watchwords  given  the  Christians  by  the  Apostle  Paul. 

II.  Primitive  Christians  Blameless  in  Character. 

a)  Affirmations  by  Adversaries:  Pliny,  Lucian,  Julian,  and 

an  Arabian. 
/3)  Confirmation   by   Adherents:   Aristides,   Apollonius,   and 

Didache. 

III.  Prediction  of  Persecutions  uttered  by  Christ. 

1.  Jewish  Persecutions. 

2.  Roman  Persecutions. 

a.  Literary  Persecutions. 

b.  Imperial  Persecutions. 

c.  Roman  Punishments. 

IV.  Occasion  for  the  Persecution  op  the  Christians. 
o)    Witness  of  the  Persecutors. 

^)   Graffiti  in  Caricature  of  Christ. 

V.  Voice  op  Modern  Historians  respecting  Early  Persecu- 

tions. 

Edward  Gibbon,  Thomas  Arnold,  Wm.  E.  H.  Lecky,  Philip 
Schaff,  McClintock  and  Strong. 

A  General  Survey  op  the  Situation. 
a)   The  Aggressive  Character  of  the  Gospel. 
/3)  The  Effects  of  Aggression  on  the  Natural  Man. 
y)  The  Exaltation  of  the  Christians  in  Suffering. 

Inductions. 
843 


Chapter  XIII. 

THE  PEESECUTIONS  OF  THE  PEIMITIYE 
CHRISTIANS. 

§  247.  Soiirces  :  Biographical  Epitomes,  Testimonies  and  Literature. 

1.  Juvenal  (A.  D.  50-130)  was  the  contemporary  of  Tacitus  and  Pliny, 

the  friend  of  Martial,  and  lived  during  the  reign  of  four  success- 
ive emperors.  Moreover,  he  was  the  author  of  sixteen  Satires, 
which  are  still  read  with  much  interest  by  men  of  letters,  as  well 
as  by  the  student  of  the  ancient  classics.  He  evidently  refers  in 
his  first  Satire  to  the  sufferings  imposed  upon  the  Christians  in 
the  reign  of  Nero,  as  also  described  by  Tacitus  and  Suetonius ; 
facts  which  occurred  about  thirty  years  after  the  crucifixion,  of 
which  some  have  supposed  Juvenal  to  have  been  an  eye-witness. 
Alluding  to  a  wretch  who  was  a  minister  and  minion  of  Nero,  Juve- 
nal wrote : 

"Pone  Tigellinum,  tseda  lucebis  in 
Qua  stantes  ardent,  qui  fixo  gutture  fumant, 
Et  latum  media  sulcum  deducit  arena." — Sat.  lib.  i,  256-157. 

2.  Martial  (A.  D.  95)  a  Latin  epigrammatist  of  celebrity,  the  author  of 

twelve  books  which  have  come  down  to  us.  He  was  of  Spanish 
blood,  born  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  in  the  year  48, 
and  died  near  the  same  place  in  104.  He  is  mentioned  by  Pliny 
junior,  as  the  intimate  friend  of  Juvenal,  and  he  was  the  favorite 
of  several  emperors  under  whose  reign  he  lived.  Coming  to  Rome 
at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  when  Nero  was  on  the  throne,  he  had 
ample  opportunities  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  emperor's 
methods  of  persecution  of  the  Christians,  and  was  undoubtedly 
an  eye-witness  of  the  great  conflagration  of  the  capital  in  the  year 
54,  and  all  the  wicked  cruelties  which  Nero  practiced  upon  the 
resident  Christians  of  Rome.  One  of  Martial's  epigrams  is  based 
upon  Nero's  tortures  of  the  Christians  inflicted  upon  his  innocent 
subjects,  to  gratify  "  the  ferocity  of  one  man."    He  says: 

"  In  matutina  nuper  spectatus  arena. 
Mucins,  imposuit,  qui  sua  membra  focis, 
345 


346         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Si  patiens  fortisque  tibi  durusque  videtur, 

Abderitanse  pectora  plebis  habes. 

Nam,  cum  dicatur,  tunica  praesente  molesta, 

Urn  manum,  plus  est  dicere  ;  non  facio." 

25.  — Lib.  X,  Epigr. 

3.  Lucius  Ann.eus  Seneca  (65)  was  a  Stoic  philosopher  and  the  teacher 

of  Nero.  He  was  a  rhetorician  of  fame,  the  contemporary  of  the 
Apostle  Paul.  Eetiring  from  public  life,  he  offered  his  ample 
fortune  to  the  emperor,  who  declined  to  receive  it,  and  having 
incurred  Nero's  suspicion,  Seneca,  in  his  old  age,  was  ordered  by 
his  former  pupil,  Nero,  to  commit  suicide,  wliich  he  proceeded 
to  do  at  once.  He  was  a  spectator  of  the  burning  of  Eome  in  the 
year  64,  and  probably  witnessed  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians 
for  his  own  guilt  in  ordering  the  city  to  be  burned.  Seneca 
describes  the  cruelest  appliances  in  vogue  with  the  Roman  Gov- 
ernment to  impose  slow  tortures,  and  finally  death,  upon  supposed 
criminals. 

4.  Epistle  to  Diognetus  (date  A.  D.  100-150)  is  a  document  supposed 

to  have  been  addressed  to  a  heathen  philosopher  of  note  and  cul- 
ture. An  early  teacher  of  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  bore  the 
name  Diognetus,  who  was  a  Stoic  philosopher.  The  language  and 
style  of  the  Epistle  would  indicate  an  Alexandrian  origin  and 
authorship ;  but  the  hypothesis  that  this  Diognetus  was  the  tutor 
of  Aurelius,  places  its  composition  at  Rome.  Possibly  its  author 
was  Pantaenus,  the  head  of  the  Alexandrian  Theological  School 
and  the  tutor  of  Clement  of  Alexandria.  In  chapter  xi  of  this 
document  the  writer  claims  to  have  been  diroffTdXwv  fiadfiT-fi^  "  a 
disciple  of  the  apostles,"  who  had  "become  a  teacher  of  the 
Gentiles."  Bishop  Lightfoot  speaks  of  this  letter  as  "one  of  the 
most  impressive  of  the  early  Christian  Apologists  in  style  and 
treatment,"  "the  simplicity  in  the  mode  of  stating  theological 
truth,  and  the  absence  of  all  reference  to  the  manifold  heresies  of 
the  earlier  time,"  point  to  the  middle  of  the  second  century  as 
the  proper  date  of  this  Epistle.  (See  Bishop  Lightfoot's  Apostl. 
Fathers,  488.)  Dr.  Schaff,  however,  suggests  that  the  time  of  its 
composition  was  "  rather  earlier  than  later  than  this  date." 
{Hist.  Christ.  Church,  ii,  702.) 

5.  Apollonius  (d.  185)  was  an  eminent  Christian  Apologist  when  Com- 

modus  was  upon  the  throne.  Cliristianity,  stigmatized  at  that  time 
as  "  the  new  religion,"  because  having  neither  ancestral  traditions 
from  antiquity  to  command  Roman  respect,  nor  identification  with 
a  nation  to  yield  it  prestige  in  standing,  was  condemned  by  the 
Senate  to  be  exterminated.  Eusebius  mentions  "Apollonius,  one 
of  the  faithful  of  that  day,  renowned  for  his  learning  and  wisdom," 
who  was   led   to   the   tribunal.      "But  this   most  approved   and 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        347 

divinely-favored  martyr,  as  the  judge  [Perennis]  earnestly  desired 
and  entreated  him  to  give  an  account  of  himself  before  the  Senate, 
delivered  a  most  eloquent  defense  of  the  faith  for  w^hich  he  was 
suffering,  in  the  presence  of  all,  and  terminated  his  life  by  decapi- 
tation, according  to  the  decree  of  the  Senate."  (E.  H.  B.  V.  c.  21.) 
At  his  execution  the  magistrate  said:  "I  would  fain  let  thee  go, 
but  can  not  because  of  the  decree  of  the  Senate ;  yet  with 
benevolence  I  pronounce  sentence  on  thee ;"  and  he  ordered 
him  to  be  beheaded  with  the  sword."  (Conybeare  in  Monuments 
of  Christianity ,  p.  48.) 

6.  Thomas  Arnold  (1795-1842)  was  an  eminent  English^historian,  teacher, 

and  divine.  Graduated  at  Oxford  in  1814,  he  became  "  Head 
Master  of  Rugby  School,"  and  managed  its  affairs  with  pre-emi- 
nent success.  In  1838-1842  he  issued  his  best  work  on  the  History 
of  Rome  (  3  vols. ;  incomplete  ).  "  His  chief  excellence  lay  .  . 
in  analyzing  laws,  parties,  and  Institutions."  (Stanley.)  In  1841, 
he  was  made  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  Oxford  Uni- 
versity. He  was  father  of  Matthew  Arnold,  the  poet,  and  William 
D.  Arnold.     He  was  a  high-toned  Christian  gentleman. 

7.  Epictetus  (109)  was  an  Eclectic  philosopher,  born  about  the  middle  of 

the  first  century.  He  was  at  first  a  slave,  then  a  freedman ;  he 
began  his  philosophic  teachings  at  Rome,  was  expelled  from  the 
city  by  order  of  the  Senate  before  the  year  90,  in  the  reign  of 
Domitian.  His  manner  of  life  is  described  as  exceedingly  eccen- 
tric ;  he  was  naked,  penniless,  wifeless,,  childless;  without  a 
want  or  a  wish,  without  passion  or  temper,  independent,  imper- 
turbable, indifferent  to  life  or  death.  Epictetus  nowhere  des- 
ignates Christianity  by  that  name,  but  he  does  mention  the 
Galileans  as  those  who  evinced  no  fear  of  death  by  martyrdom  ;  a 
fortitude  which  was  so  much  superior  to  his  own  philosophy 
that  he  attributes  it  to  "  madness"  of  mind. 

8.  Heinrich  E.  G.  Paulus  (1761-1851)  was  born  at  Wtlrtemberg,  stud- 

ied theology  and  Oriental  languages  at  Tiibingen,[.G6ttingen,  Lon- 
don, and  Paris  ;  was  chosen  professor  at  Jena,  and  in  Heidelberg  in 
1811.  He  became  a  prominent  rationalist  in  theology  in  respect 
to  history  and  criticism,  and  adopted  some  strange  and  extrava- 
gant views,  especially  in  regard  to  Christ's  miracles.  Notwith- 
standing his  acute  skill,  his  great  learning,  and  large  experience 
in  historical  exposition,  he  was  so  mentally  perverted  by  his 
preconceptions  of  Christianity,  which  he  adopted  to  fit  his  views, 
that  he  severely  taxed  the  credulity  of  his  readers  far  more  to 
accept  his  extravagant  theories  than  was  called  for  to  believe 
the  simple  and  obvious  story  of  miracles  in  the  Gospels.  His 
Life  of  Jesus  (1828)  and  his  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament  (Vol. 
IV,  1800-1807)  were  his  chief  works. 


348         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

9.  Galen — Claudius  Galenus  (130-200)  was  born  at  Pergamus,  Asia 
Minor.  He  was  a  physician  of  great  celebrity,  was  twice  called  for 
professional  services  in  the  imperial  household  of  Aurelius  and 
Verus,  as  he  was  without  a  peer  in  his  profession.  He  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  upon  the  whole  medical  profession  for  a  period 
of  thirteen  hundred  years. 

§  248.    The  Persecution  of  the  Christians. 

The  rules  of  the  highest  living  are  the  Gospels  of  Christ. —  Edmund 
Burke. 

Of  all  systems  of  morality,  none  appears  so  pui-e  to  me  as  that  of 
Jesus. — Jefferson. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  preaching  of  the  new  sect,  even  while  they 
were  disseminated  with  much  reserve,  should  revive  the  animosi- 
ties which  had  accumulated  against  its  Founder,  and  had  ulti- 
mately resulted  in  his  death. — Eenan. 

It  was  to  sustain  the  deliberate  and  systematic  attack  of  the  temporal 
power,  arming  in  almost  every  part  of  the  empire  in  defense  of 
the  ancient  Polytheism. — Milman. 

It  was  the  greatest  absurdity  that  can  be  conceived  for  any  to  impose 
on  others  a  worship  contrary  to  their  conscience,  or  deny  to  men 
the  liberty  to  choose  their  own  religion.  It  is  not  religion,  but  a 
love  of  power,  that  makes  men  persecutors. — Lactantius. 

The  whole  body  of  Christians  unanimously  refused  to  hold  any  com- 
munion with  the  gods  of  Rome,  of  the  empire,  and  of  mankind. 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  oppressed  believer  asserted  the  inalienable 
rights  of  conscience  and  private  judgment. — Edward  Gibbon. 

And  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  Name's  sake. — Jesus. 

Ai(i}K6fi€vot,  dX\'  oiiK  iyKaraXenrdfievoi,  KaTa^aWd/xevoi,  dXX  ovk  (XTroW^/jievof  = 
"  Persecuted,  but  not  forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed." 
— Paul. 

argument. 

The  early  Christians  were  distinguished  for  their  purity  and  blameless- 
ness  of  life.  Nevertheless,  profane  writers  evidence  a  common 
dislike  and  contempt,  even  among  the  better  classes  of  heathen, 
as  regards  Christians  and  the  Christian  religion.  Such  misappre- 
hension of  character  naturally  led  to  open  hostility  against  Chris- 
tianity. Christ  had  himself  predicted  that  his  followers  would 
have  much  tribulation.  His  apostles  after  him  were  the  first  to 
suffer  persecution.  Though  subjected  to  terrible  cruelties  and 
outrages  on  account  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  the  apostolic  writers 
record  no  complaints  or  bitterness  on  this  account.  While  de- 
ploring that  any  believer  should  suffer  for  any  given  crime,  yet 
to  suffer  as  a  Christian  was  a  ground  for  glorying. 

The  persecutions    of    the    Christians   by   Jews  and    Gentiles 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        349 

were  manifold  in  number  and  terrible  in  experience.  They 
suffered  by  imperial  decrees,  but  especially  by  Sanhedrists  and 
by  provincial  governors.  The  ungovernable  malice  and  fanaticism 
of  the  Jews  against  Jesus  was  transferred  to  his  followers.  When 
mere  reasoning  was  protested  as  being  insufficient  for  the  de- 
mands of  religion  and  of  our  spiritual  nature,  the  philosophers  of 
the  day  antagonized  Christianity.  But  the  chief  offense  of  the 
Christians  consisted  in  their  pronounced  opposition  to  the  gods  of 
the  State  as  false,  immoral,  and  degrading.  Instead,  they  intro- 
duced a  "  new  religion,"  which  had  neither  the  sanction  nor  the 
sanctity  of  antiquity  to  commend  it,  and  had  no  nation  behind 
it  to  command  respect  for  it  or  enforce  its  claims.  The  Chris- 
tians persistently  refused  as  an  act  of  worship  to  burn  incense  to 
the  statue  of  an  emperor,  and  declined  absolutely  to  revile  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  test  of  loyalty  to  the  government. 
Thereupon  the  inalienable  rights  of  conscience  were  outraged  by 
violence  and  persecution.  As  the  empire,  of  which  the  emperor 
was  the  high  pontiff,  had  incorporated  into  its  organic  structure 
the  exclusive  rights  of  religion,  Christianity  was  imperially  de- 
nounced, and  those  who  advocated  or  adhered  to  the  faith  were 
declared  to  be  guilty  of  high  treason. 

1.  Heathen  Opinions  of  Christians  and  Christianity. 

2.  Character  of  the  Primitive  Christians  Blameless. 

3.  The  Occasion  for  the  Persecution  of  Christians. 

I.  Heathen  Opinions. 


"What  the  Roman  heathen  opinions  were  respecting  Chris- 
tians and  the  Christian  religion  is  sufficiently  re- 

°  "^  8  249.  Opin- 

flected  in  the  following  testimonies,  which  have       ions  of 
been   transmitted  to   us  in  their   own   writings. 
Let  us  take  no  other  than  the  views  entertained  by  their  own 
representative  men. 

a)  Epictetus  wrote  (109)  respecting  the  fortitude  of  Chris- 
tians who  had  to  brave  martyrdom,  because  they  could  not 
and  would  not  worship  the  false  gods  chosen  by  the  State,  and 
execrate  Christ,  as  Roman  magistrates  required : 

"Is  it  possible  that  a  man  may  arrive  at  that  temper  and  become 
indifferent  to  those  things  from  madness  or  habit  as  the  Galileans*  do, 

*Suldas,  a  man  of  letters,  wi-lting  in  the  tenth  century,  said:  "In  the  time 
of  the  Emperor  Claudius  (41-{>1)  they  who  before  had  been  called  'Nazarenes  '  and 
^Galileans,''  received  a  new  name  at  Antioch,  and  were  called  Christians. '''  See 
Acta  xl,  26. 


350         Historical  Evidence  of  the  !N"ew  Testament. 

and  yet  no  one  should  be  able  to  know  by  reason  or  demonstration  that 
God  made  all  things  in  the  world?"  ^ 

)8)  Tacitus  (110),  the  famous  historian,  says  of  the  Jews : 

"Whatever  might  be  the  origin  of  their  religion,  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  antiquity;"  but  Christianity  was  ^'the  deadly  superstition^ 
[which],  repressed  for  a  time,  broke  out  again,  not  only  in  Judaea,  where 
the  mischief  originated,  but  throughout  the  city  of  Rome  also,  where  all 
things  horrible  and  disgraceful  flow  from  all  quarters  as  a  common  re- 
ceptacle, and  where  they  are  encouraged." 

y)  Pliny,  junior,  (112),  when  proconsul  of  Pontus  and  Bi- 

thynia,  in  his  official  report  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  expressed 

his  prejudice  against  the  Christian  religion  in  severest  terms. 

After  torturing  two  deaconesses  to  compel  a  confession  of 

mere  imaginary  wrongs  in  Christian  practices,  he  writes: 

"  I  could  discover  nothing  but  a  perverse  and  extravagant  supersti- 
tion."^ *'  There  were  others  also  under  like  infatuation,  but  as  they  were 
Roman  citizens,  I  directed  them  to  be  sent  to  the  capital."  "  Nor  has 
the  contagion  of  the  superstition*  been  confined  to  cities,  but  has  ex- 
tended to  the  towns,  and  even  to  the  open  country."  ^' But  the  crime 
spread  as  is  wont  while  the  prosecutions  were  going  on;"  and  "what- 
ever the  nature  of  their  profession  might  be,  a  stubborn  and  unyielding 
obstinacy  certainly  deserved  punishment  [with  death]  !"^ 

8)  Suetonius  (122),  the  distinguished  biographer  of  the 
Twelve  CcBsars,  also  shared  in  this  unreasonable  prejudice;  for 
in  his  work  he  is  careful  to  mention  "the  Christians  as  a  class 
of  men  of  a  new  and  deceitful  superstitionr  ^ 

€)  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  (d.  about  180),  the  Stoic 
philosopher  and  emperor  (161-180),  "had  no  room  in  his  cos- 
mopolitan philanthropy  for  the  purest  and  most  innocent  of 
his  subjects,  many  of  whom  served  in  his  army."  In  his  re- 
flective moments  he  wrote: 

"  What  a  soul  that  is  which  is  ready,  if  at  any  moment  it  must  be 
separated  from  the  body,  either  to  be  extinguished  or  dispersed,  or  to 

1  'T7r6  ixavla^,  Lib.  4,  c.  7,  cited  by  Lard,  vll,  88,  89. 
-  Exitiabllis  superstltio,  Annals,  xv,  41. 
3  Prava  et  Inimodlca  superstltio. 

*Contaglo  pervagata  est    .    .    .    pervlcacla  Inflexlbllls  obatenatlo. 
6  DlfTundente  se  crimlne.    Epis.  x,  97.    See  App.,  Excursus,  B. 
oSuporstltlonls  novi©  et  maleflcae  =  deceptive;  maijical,  with  reference  to 
miracles.    Nero,  IC. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Pkimitiye  Christians.       351 

continue  to  exist;  but  [only]  so  that  this  readiness  [to  die]  comes  from 
a  man's  own  judgment,  not  from  mere  obstinacy  as  with  the  Christians,'' 
but  considerately,  and  with  dignity,  and  in  a  way  to  persuade  another 
without  scenic  display."^ 

^)  Claudius  Galenas  {^^Galen,''^  180),  a  physician  of  great 
celebrity  and  a  high  authority  in  the  healing  art,  remarked  of 
those  of  his  profession  who  refused  to  be  united  in  faith  and 
practice  as  physicians :  "  It  is  easier  to  convince  the  disciples 
of  Moses  and  Christ  than  physicians  and  philosophers  who  are 
addicted  to  particular  sects."  ^ 

Yj)  Porphyry  (270),  a  man  famous  in  the  literature  of  the 
Roman  world,  knew  so  little  of  Christianity,  which  yet  he  de- 
spised, that  he  speaks  of — 

"  Origen  as  a  Greek,  being  educated  in  Greek  literature,  but  who 
went  over  to  the  barbarian  temerity,^"  .  .  .  living  contrary  to  the 
laws."  "And  now  the  people  wonder  that  this  distemper^^  has  oppressed 
the  city  so  long,  ^sculapius  and  the  other  gods  no  longer  conversing 
with  men.  For  since  Jesus  has  been  honored  none  have  received  any 
public  benefits  from  the  gods." 

0)  Julian  the  Emperor  (361)  was  not  only  "an  apostate" 

from  the  faith,  but  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Christianity,  as  his 

own  words  witness : 

"A  great  multitude  of  men  in  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Italy  are 
seized  with  this  mental  malady."  "By  the  madness  of  the  Galileans  all 
things  were  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin ;  and  now  we  are  all  safe  by 
the  goodness  of  the  gods."  "  I  think  it  right  to  show  to  all  men  the 
reasons  by  which  I  have  been  convinced  that  the  religion  of  the  Galile- 
ans is  a  human  contrivance,  badly  put  together,  having  nothing  in  it 
divine,  but  abusing  the  childish,  irrational  part  of  the  soul  which  delights 
in  fable.  They  [the  Christians]  have  introduced  a  heap  of  wonderful 
works  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  truth."  He  mentions  "  the  calamity 
[which  the  Christians]  brought  upon  themselves,  who,  forsaking  the 
immortal  gods,  betake  themselves  to  dead  men."  "Shall  we,  for  this, 
most  hate  the  understanding,  or  most  pity  the  simple  and  ignorant 

'  Kara  \pi\r]v  wapdra^iv  =  according  to  naked  discipline. 

^'ArpdYifJSw?- =  "without  noise  or  fuss."    Medit. xl,S. 

9  De  Differentia  Pulsuum,  lib.  11,  p.  22.    (See  Lard,  vil,  301.) 

i<'np65-  rb  ^dp^apov  i^JjKeiXe  T6\iiT]/..a=''' ran  aground  respecting  tJie  barbarian 
act  of  daring ;"  i.e..  In  rejecting  the  heathen  gods,  and  resisting  the  emperor's 
edict.    See  Lard.  vU,  397,  and  Euseb.  E.  H.  vl,  224. 

11  'H  v6<rof="  sickness,  disease,  distemper." 
23 


352         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

among  you  who  ai-e  so  unhappy  as  to  leave  the  immortal  gods  and  go 
over  to  a  dead  Jew  ?"i2 

With  such  preconceptions  and  misconceptions  as  to  what 
Christianity  is,  and  what  it  proposes  to  do  in  the  interests  of 
mankind ;  in  the  utter  want  of  a  conception  of  the  spirituality 
of  the  Christian  religion  and  of  the  spiritual  satisfaction 
which  it  brings  to  man's  spiritual  nature,  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
such  men,  in  their  ignorance,  should  denounce  the  "  new  relig- 
ion'' as  "a  deadly  superstition,"  "  a  mental  malady,"  " a  bar- 
barian temerity;"  that  absolute  loyalty  to  conviction  and 
conscience  should  be  called  "sheer  obstinacy,"  "deserving  of 
punishment"  unto  death;  and  that  Christian  triumph,  even  in 
martyrdom,  should  be  regarded  as  a  mere  "tragical  display" 
before  men!  With  Julian  the  fault  of  the  Christians  was 
"  madness,"  as  it  was  with  Festus  at  Caesarea-on-the-Sea,  who 
exclaimed:  "Paul,  thou  art  mad;  thy  much  learning  doth 
turn  thee  to  madness !"  ^^ 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  these  writers  cited  were 
of  the  foremost  men  of  their  period  who  accused  the  Chris- 
tians,— authors,  historians,  philosophers,  proconsul,  procurators, 
emperor.  They  were  not  men  of  the  common  populace,  but 
men  of  position  and  culture,  distinguished  as  leaders  of  thought, 
and  conspicuous  for  their  influence  and  activity.  Unquestion- 
ably such  men  reflected  the  views  entertained  by  the  common 
people  respecting  Christians  and  Christianity.  It  was  because 
the  Christians  refused  absolutely  to  execrate  the  name  of 
Christ,  but,  instead,  exalted  him  as  the  object  of  their  loving 
adoration,  that  they  were  supposed  to  have  been  smitten  with 
"madness."  Because  they  withdrew  themselves  from  associa- 
tion with  the  heathen,  who  indulged  themselves  in  sinful 
pleasures  and  vices,  "they  were  hated  of  all  men"  for  his 
sake.  Because  they  would  not  frequent  the  heathen  temples, 
and  sacrifice  to  the  imaginary  and  disreputable  gods  of  heathen 

"  See  Greek  text  and  transl.  In  Lard,  vll,  028,  596,  622,  669,630  . 
"Acts  xxvl,24,  R.  V. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        353 

worship,  Christians  were  denounced  as  "Atheists."  To  this 
open  charge  Justin  responds  to  the  government  in  his  defens- 
ive address: 

"  We  are  called  Atheists ;  and  we  confess  that  we  are  Atheists  so  far 
as  this  sort  of  gods  is  concerned  ;  but  not  with  respect  to  the  most  true 
God,  the  Father  of  righteousness."  "  For  they  proclaim  our  '  madness' 
to  consist  in  this :  that  we  give  to  a  crucified  man  a  place  second  to  the 
unchangeable  and  eternal  God,  the  Creator  of  all."" 

As  to  the  fact,  the  charge  was  true ;  but  the  inference  was 
false  that  Christians  were  therefore  degenerates.  Truly  did 
the  skeptical  Edward  Gibbon  assert : 

"The  whole  body  of  Christians  unanimously  refuse  to  hold  com- 
munion with  the  gods  of  Rome,  of  the  empire,  and  of  mankind.  It  was 
in  vain  that  the  oppressed  believer  asserted  the  inalienable  right  of  conscience 
and  private  judgment."  ^* 

Of  course,  it  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  truth  should 
ever  be  found  antagonistic  to  error,  or  it  would  not  be  true  to 
itself.    That  the  prevailino^  preiudice  and  passion 

^  G  r     J  r  g  250.  Watch- 

should  be  aggravated  and  intensified  by  the  atti-     words  of  the 

tude  of  opposition  which  Christianity  assumed 

against  the  pagan  religion  is  perfectly  natural  and  obvious, 

when  we  recall  the  ringing  watchwords  of  the  early  Christians : 

"  For  what  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  iniquity  ?  Or  what 
communion  hath  light  with  darkness  ?  And  what  concord  hath  Christ 
with  Belial  ?  Or  what  portion  hath  a  believer  with  an  infidel  ?  Or 
what  agreement  hath  a  temple  of  God  with  idols  ?"  ^^ 

When,  then,  these  intelligent  pagans  who  were  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  saw  the  religion  of  their  own  ances- 
tors disowned  and  the  gods  of  the  State  forsaken;  a  religion 
which  had  come  down  to  their  possession  from  antiquity, 
embraced  and  revered  by  their  best  men  in  all  the  honorable 
ages  of  the  past ;  a  religion  which  stood  allied  with  the  com- 
mon interests  of  the  society  at  large,  and  incorporated  into 
the  very  structure  of  the  government,  supported  by  all  the 

^* First  Apology,  cc.  6  and  13.       '*  Gibbon's  Rome,  1,  .591.        ^^2  Cor.  vl,  14,  15. 


354         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

military  power  of  the  empire,  of  whicli  religion  the  emperor 

was  himself  chief  high  priest, — when  they  saw,  in  their  view, 

this   ancient   religion    confronted   and   antagonized    by   this 

upstart  faith  which  they  regarded  as  "a  deadly  superstition," 

which  was  without  an  antiquity,  without  an  army,  without  a 

nation,  and  without  empire,  yet  so  aggressive  as  to  demand 

the  overthrow  of  everything  which  had  been  held  by  them  to 

be  sacred ;  demanding  the  downfall  of  the  old  faith  itself,  the 

destruction   of   every   magnificent  temple,  the  overthrow  of 

every  altar,  the  abolition  of  every  priest,  and  the  abandonment 

of  every  service,  we  need  not  feel  surprised  at  the  profound 

amazement  and  disgust  entertained  by  the  heathen  that  found 

expression  in  their  various  epithets :  "  The  new  and  deceitful 

superstition"    by  Suetonius;   the   "infatuation"  and  "crime" 

of   the   "gentle   Pliny;"    "the   madness"   of    Epictetus   and 

Julian,  and  the  "  barbarian  temerity"  of  Porphyry.     JS'or  is  it 

to  be  so  much  wondered  at  that  the  Emperor  Julian,  whose 

susceptibilities  had  been  so  deeply  offended,  should  taunt  the 

Christians  of  Antioch  by  saying: 

"  I  suppose  you  are  very  happy  because  you  have  renounced  all 
kinds  of  servitude ;  first  to  the  gods,  then  to  the  laws,  and  lastly  to  me 
who  am  the  guardian  of  the  laws."" 

Nevertheless  it  was  as  absurd  as  it  was  sincere,  that  he 
again  wrote: 

"  You  miserable  people,  at  the  same  time  that  ye  refuse  to  worship 
the  shield  that  fell  down  from  Jupiter,  and  is  preserved  by  us  .  .  . 
as  a  certain  pledge  of  the  perpetual  government  of  our  city,  .  .  . 
you,  who  are  so  very  unhappy  as  to  leave  the  immortal  gods  and  go  over 
to  a  dead  Jew."^* 

II.  Primitive  Christians  Blameless  in  Character. 

That  the  early  Christians  exampled  blameless 

tions  by        lives  Can  not  be  denied  upon  the  evidence  ot 

Adversaries,     j^-g^^j.^      rpj^-g  ^^^^  ^^^^d  be  thoroughly  attested 

upon  the  witness  of  their  enemies  who  were   their   contem- 

1'  Mispogon,  cited  by  Lard,  vil,  647.  ^^Id.  vli,  680. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        355 

poraries,  A  few  testimonies  taken  from  the  many  will  illus- 
trate the  purity  and  nobility  of  the  primitive  Christian  char- 
acter. 

1.  Pliny:  Referring  to  those  who  were  arrested  and 
brought  before  his  tribunal  for  punishment,  he  says : 

"  They  declared  that  the  whole  of  their  guilt  or  error  was  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  stated  day  before  it  was  light  and  sing  a 
hymn  of  praise  to  Christ  as  God,  to  bind  themselves  by  an  oath  not  for 
the  perpetration  of  any  wickedness,  but  that  they  would  not  commit 
any  theft,  robbery  or  adultery,  or  violate  their  word,  or  refuse  when 
called  upon  to  restore  anything  committed  to  their  trust.  After  this, 
they  were  accustomed  to  separate,  and  then  reassemble  to  eat  in 
common  a  harmless  meal.  Even  this  they  ceased  to  do  after  my  edict, 
in  which,  agreeable  to  your  commands,  I  forbade  the  meeting  of  secret 
assemblies."^® 

2.  Lucian:  "They  [the  Christians]  have  a  sovereign  contempt  for 
all  the  things  of  this  world,  and  look  upon  them  as  common  ;  and  trust 
one  another  with  them  without  any  particular  security."  Referring  to 
one  Peregrinus,  he  adds:  "The  Christians  were  much  grieved  for  his  im- 
prisonment, and  tried  all  ways  to  procure  his  liberty.  Not  being  able  to 
effect  that,  they  did  all  sorts  of  kind  offices,  and  that  not  in  a  care- 
less manner,  but  with  the  greatest  assiduity ;  for  even  betimes  in  the 
morning  .  .  .  some  of  the  chief  of  their  men  .  .  .  would  get 
into  the  prison,  and  stay  a  whole  night  there  with  him.  There  they  had 
a  good  supper  together,  and  their  sacred  discourses."^" 

3.  Julian:  "For  it  having  so  happened,  I  suppose,  that  the  poor 
were  neglected  by  our  priests,  the  impious  Galileans,  observing  this, 
have  addicted  themselves  to  this  kind  of  humanity ;  and  by  the  show 
of  such  good  offices  have  recommended  the  worst  things.  For  beginning 
with  love-feasts  and  'the  ministry  of  the  tables, '^^  as  they  call  it — for 
not  only  the  name,  but  the  thing  also  is  common  among  them — they 
have  drawn  away  the  faithful  to  impiety."  ^^ 

4.  The  unknown  Arabic  Writer:  "  We  know  that  the  people  called 
Christians  founded  their  religion  in  parables  and  miracles.  In  moral 
training,  we  see  them  in  nowise  inferior  to  the  philosophers.  They 
practice  celibacy,  as  do  many  of  the  women  ;  in  diet  they  are  abstemious  ; 
in  fasting  and  prayers  assiduous  ;  they  injure  no  one.  In  the  practice  of 
virtue  they  surpass  the  philosophers  ;  in  probity,  in  continence,  in  genu- 
ine performance  of  miracles,  they  infinitely  excel  them."23 

5.  Aristides:  "  On  this  account  they  do  not  commit  adultery  nor 
fornication  ;  they  do  not  bear  false  witness ;  they  do  not  deny  a  deposit, 

"  Letter  to  Trajan.  20  Cited  In  Lard,  vli,  280.  a  Acts,  vi.  2. 

22  Oration  directing  priests.  Lard,  vll,  645,  646. 

23  Smith  and  Wace's  Diet,  of  Christ.  Biography. 


356         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


nor  covet  that  which  is  not  theirs.     They  honor  father  andimothtsr ;  they 

do  good  to  those  who  are  their  neighbors ;  and  when  they  are  judges 

they  judge  uprightly,  and  do  not  worship  idols  in  the  form 

§  252.  Conflr-     ^^  j^g^j^ .  g^^^^  whatever  they  do  not  wish  others  should  do 

Adherents        *^  them,  they  do   not   practice    toward   any  one.     And 

they  do  not  eat  the  meal  of  idol  sacrifices,  for  they  are 

undefiled ;  and  those  that  grieve  them,  they  comfort  and   make  them 

their  friends  ;  and  they  do  good  to  their  enemies They  do 

not  worship  strange  gods,  and  they  walk  in  humility  and  kindness ; 
and  falsehood  is  not  found  among  them,  and  they  love  one  another ;  and 
from  the  widows  they  do  not  turn  away  their  countenance ;  and  they 
rescue  the  orphan  from  him  who  does  him  violence ;  and  he  who  has, 
gives  to  him  that  has  not,  without  grudging;  and  when  they  see  a 
stranger,  they  bring  him  to  tlieir  dwelling,  and  rejoice  over  him  as  over 
a  true  brother ;  for  they  do  not  call  brothers  those  who  ai'e  brothers 
after  the  flesh,  but  those  who  are  in  the  spirit  and  in  God. 

"  But  when  any  of  their  poor  passes  away  from  the  world,  and  any 
of  them  sees  him,  then  he  provides  for  his  family  according  to  his 
ability ;  and  if  he  hears  that  any  of  their  number  is  imprisoned  or  op- 
pressed for  the  name  of  their  Messiah,  all  of  them  provide  for  his 
needs,  and  if  it  is  possible  that  he  may  be  delivered,  they  deliver  him. 
And  if  there  is  among  them  a  man  that  is  poor,  and  they  have  an 
abundance  of  necessaries,  they  fast  two  and  three  days  that  they  may 
supply  the  needy  with  food.  And  they  observe  scrupulously  the  com- 
mands of  their  Messiah ;  they  live  honestly  and  soberly  as  the  Lord 
their  God  commanded  them.  Every  morning,  and  at  all  hours,  on 
account  of  the  goodness  of  God  toward  them,  they  praise  and  laud 
him."2< 

6.  Apollonius :  *' We  have  no  part  at  all  in  dissolute  desires,  nor 
do  we  allow  impure  sights,  nor  a  lewd  glance,  nor  an  ear  that  listens  to 
evil,  lest  our  souls  be  wounded  thereby.  For  he  [Jesus]  taught  us  to 
pacify  anger ;  to  moderate  desire ;  to  abate  and  diminish  appetite ;  to 
put  away  sorrow ;  to  take  part  in  pity ;  to  increase  love ;  to  cast  away 
vainglory ;  to  abstain  from  taking  vengeance,  not  to  be  vindictive ;  to 
despise  death,  not  indeed  out  of  lawlessness,  but  as  bearing  with  the 
lawless;  to  obey  the  laws  of  God;  to  reverence  rulers;  to  worship 
God  ;  to  intrust  the  spirit  to  the  immortal  God  ;  to  look  forward  to  judg- 
ment after  death ;  to  expect  reward  after  the  resurrection  to  be  given 
by  God  to  those  who  have  lived  in  piety.  Teaching  all  this  by  word 
and  deed,  along  with  great  firmness,  and  glorified  by  all  for  the  bene- 
fits which  he  conferred  on  them,  he  [Jesus]  was  slain  at  last,  as  were 
before  him  philosophers  and  just  men.  For  the  just  are  seen  to  be  a 
cause  of  offense  to  the  unjust.'"^ 

7.  Teachings  of  the  Apostles:  "Thou  shalt  do  no   murder;    thou 

2*  Apology  of  Arlstldes. 

2*  Apology,  c'c.  2(5,  37,  38;  Oonybeare's  Monuments  of  Early  Christianity,  1894. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        357 

shalt  not  commit  adultery  ;  thou  shalt  not  corrupt  boys  ;  thou  shalt  not 
commit  fornication ,  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  thou  shalt  not  deal  in 
magic  ;  thou  shalt  do  no  sorcery  ;  thou  shalt  not  murder  a  child  by  abor- 
tion, nor  kill  them  when  born;  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbors' 
goods;  thou  shalt  not  perjure  thyself;  thou  shalt  not  bear  false  wit- 
ness ;  thou  shalt  not  speak  evil ;  thou  shalt  not  cherish  a  grudge ;  thou 
shalt  not  be  double-minded,  nor  double-tongued,  for  the  double 
tongue  is  a  snare  of  death.  Thy  word  shalt  not  be  false  or  empty,  but 
fulfilled  by  action.  Thou  shalt  not  be  avaricious,  nor  a  plunderer,  nor 
a  hypocrite,  nor  ill-tempered,  nor  proud.  Thou  shalt  not  entertain  an 
evil  design  against  thy  neighbor.  Thou  shalt  not  hate  any  man ; 
but  some  thou  shalt  reprove,  and  for  others  thou  shalt  pray ;  and 
others  thou  shalt  love  more  than  thy  life."^^ 

The  ground  already  traversed  evidences  the  fact  that  two 
classes  of  religious  opinions  had  appeared  in  the  world,  and 
they  were  radically  opposed  to  each  other.  The  one  was  an 
old  system  of  idolatory,  the  other  was  the  new  system  of 
Christianity.  They  were  in  nature  mutually  antagonistic.  In 
the  one  case  it  was  insisted  that  the  antiquity  of  the  system, 
supported  as  it  was  by  the  power  of  the  State,  was  entitled  to 
the  right  either  to  coerce  the  human  conscience  or  extermi- 
nate the  Christian  subject,  because  Christianity  was  an 
^^  unlawful  religimi,^'''^'  and  the  common  watchword  of  the 
Romans  against  the  Christians  was,  "  It  is  not  laioful  that  you 
shotild  exist.''^^  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  claimed,  justly,  that 
the  rights  of  conscience  for  the  worship  of  God  were  deeply 
implanted  in  the  human  spirit  by  the  Creator,  and  inhered  in 
him  as  an  inalienable  right.^  This  issue  naturally,  if  not 
inevitably,  led  to  private  hate  on  the  one  part  and  to  open 
persecution.  Nevertheless,  it  should  not  be  overlooked,  that 
when  the  adversaries  had  said  the  worst  they  had  to  say 
respecting  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  Christians,  it 
was  a  concession  that  they  whom  they  sought  to  exterminate 
for  their  faith  had  been  living  pure  and  blameless  lives. 
This  stands  confirmed  by  the  open  protests  before  the  magis- 
trates of  the  government,  whose   words  were  a  recognized 

as  Didache,  c.  2.  "  "  Rellglo  lllicta." 

«8  "Non  licet  esse  vos,"  cited  by  Tertulllan.       »  Acts,  Iv,  19,  20;  xxiii,  1,  2. 


358         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

challenge  for  evidence  to  the  contrary  of  their  statements. 
There  yet  remain  to  be  considered 

III.  The  Persistent  Persecutions  of  the  Christians. 

When  Jesus  founded  the  Christian  religion  in  the  world, 
he   gave  utterance   to  the  pathetic   prediction 

§  253.  Predic-  °,  ,  ,,^  i-t-i 

tion  of         that  those  who  would  become  his  disciples  must 
Persecutions,    ^^j^^  ^^  ^j^^.^  ^^^^^  ^^^  foUow  him.     They  must 

expect  that  persecutions  would  await  them.     He  said : 

"In  the  world  ye  have  tribulation." 3"  "They  will  lay  their  hands 
on  you,  and  will  persecute  you,  delivering  you  up  to  the  synagogues  and 
prisons ;  bringing  you  before  kings  and  governors  for  my  name's  sake. 
Ye  shall  be  delivered  up  even  by  parents  and  brethren,  and  kinsfolk  and 
friends;  and  some  of  you  will  they  cause  to  be  put  to  death.  And  ye 
shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name's  sake."  *^  "  Remember  the  word 
that  I  said  unto  you:  A  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord.  If  they 
have  persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute  you."^^ 

How  this  prediction  was  realized  in  the  expe- 

8254.  Experi-  „,  ,        .  i^i-  i^^i^n 

ence  of  the      rience  of  the  apostles  is  related  m  what  lollows. 
Apostles.       Paul  says: 

"For  I  think  God  hath  set  forth  us  the  apostles  last  of  all,  as  men 
doomed  to  death ;  for  we  are  made  a  spectacle  unto  the  world,  and  to 
angels,  and  to  men."^^  "And  now,  behold,  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  unto 
Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me  there  ;  save  only 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  testifieth  unto  me  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds 
and  afflictions  abide  me.  But  I  hold  not  ray  life  of  any  account  as  dear 
unto  myself,  so  that  I  may  accomplish  my  course,  and  the  ministry 
which  I  received  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God."^  "In  stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons  more  frequent,  in 
deaths  oft.'"*  "But  in  all  things  approving  ourselves  as  the  ministers 
of  God,  in  much  patience,  in  afflictions,  in  necessities,  in  distresses,  in 
stripes,  in  imprisonments,  in  tumults."  ^6  "  We  are  troubled  on  every 
side,  yet  not  distressed;  we  are  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair;  perse- 
cuted, but  not  destroyed,  ...  for  we  who  live  are  always  delivered 
unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake."  ^  "  Yea,  and  all  that  will  live  godly  in 
Christ  Jesus  will  suffer  persecution." ^^^  "When  we  were  with  you,  we 
told  you  before  that  ye  should  suffer  tribulation,  even  as  it  came  to 
pass. "38  "And  they  [the  apostles]  departed  from  the  Council,  rejoicing 
that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  dishonor  for  the  Name."  *" 

30Johnxvl,83.  3i  Luke  xxl,  12, 16, 17,  Mjohnxv,  20.  33iCor.lv,  9. 

3<Acts  XX,  22-24.        3*2  Cor.  xl,  23.  »o/6.  vl,  4,  5.  37/6.  iv,  8-10. 

3«  2  Tim.  ill,  12.  8»  1  Thess.  ill,  3,  4.  ■WActsv,  41. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        859 

Peter  adds : 

"Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial  among  you, 
which  Cometh  upon  you  to  prove  you,  as  though  a  strange  thing  hap- 
pened unto  you  ;  but  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings, 
rejoice,  that  at  the  revelation  of  his  glory  also  ye  may  rejoice  with 
exceeding  great  joy.  If  ye  are  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ, 
blessed  are  ye,  because  [the  Spirit]  of  glory  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
resteth  upon  you.  For  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  as  a 
thief,  or  as  an  evil-doer,  or  as  a  meddler  in  other  men's  matters  ;  but  if 
any  man  suffer  as  a  Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed,  but  let  him 
glorify  God  in  this  Name."  *^ 

These  citations  sufficiently  indicate  both  the  cruelties  and 
persecutions  to  which  the  primitive  Christians  were  exposed 
and  subiected,  and  the  tone  and  trend  of  their 

•^  '  8  255.  Forti- 

minds  in  the  endurance  of  these  trials.  Their  tude  of  the 
noble  patience  and  fortitude,  illustrated  in  their  "^  ^^^^" 
sufferings  endured,  touched  even  the  heathen  multitude  with 
compassion.  That  they  were  persecuted  exclusively  for  their 
faith  in  Christ  is  not  only  corroborated,  but  particularized  and 
amplified  in  the  testimonies  of  the  heathen  themselves,  who 
were  men  of  the  highest  standing  among  the  heathen. 

As  the  first  Christians  were  Jewish  Christians,  whose  center 
was  Jerusalem,  where  Jesus  was  recently  crucified,  the  Jewish 
people  came  to  regard  the  Christians,  not  as  a  sect  of  the  Jews, 
but  as  those  who  had  openly  apostatized  from  the  ancient 
faith  of  the  Church ;  and  accordingly  they  transferred  to  the 
followers  of  Christ  all  the  hate  and  malice  which  ruled  when 
they  put  him  to  death.  Hence  there  were 
I.  Jewish  Persecutions. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  A.  D.  70,  the  Sanhe- 
drin  of  the  Jews  continued  its  sessions  at  Jabneh,  whose 
Greek  name  was  Jamnia,  called,  in  the  Talmud,   „   ^ 

'  '  '    §256.  TheTal- 

Jafna.     It  was  located  near  the  Mediterranean         mudic 
Sea,  about  eleven  miles  south  of  Joppa.     The      ersecutions. 
particulars  following  illustrate  the  spirit  and  legislation  which 
prevailed  with  reference  to  the  Christians,  who  were  odiously 

«lPet.lv,  12-16. 


360         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

named  as  identified  with  the  Gentiles.     The  Sanhedrin  passed 

laws  especially  placing  Christians  in  the  same  hateful  relations 

in  their  regards  as  the  Samaritans,*^  persecuting  them  socially, 

in  business  relations,  and  in  religion.     In  Talmudic  literature 

is  a  Jewish  prayer  intended  to  be  offered  against  all  Christians, 

but  specially  against  all  Jewish  Christians.     It  was  signed  by 

the   president   of    the   Sanhedrin,   named  Gamaliel  II.     The 

Jewish  Christians  were  called  Minim f^  meaning  "  Heretics.'''' 

This  prayer  reads : 

"  O  let  the  slanderers  have  no  hope !  Let  the  wicked  be  annihilated 
speedily,  and  all  the  tyrants  be  cut  off  quickly!  Humble  thou  them  in 
haste  in  our  days!  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  who  destroyest  our 
enemies  !"  It  was  further  enjoined:  "  If  the  reader  of  the  prayer  make 
a  mistake,  or  become  confused  in  reading,  another  shall  instantly  rise 
up  instead,  and  ci*y  to  heaven  for  a  curse  upon  the  Gentiles."  " 

The  following  details  are  extracted  from  the  unexjpttrgated 
edition  of  the  Talmud: 

(1.)  It  is  forbidden  to  buy  meat,  bread  or  wine  from  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, or  to  eat  or  drink  with  them  in  their  own  houses ;  and  they  shall 
not  have  dealings  of  trust  with  them. 

(2.)  The  Christian  Liturgy  is  to  be  put  in  ban  {i.e.,  condemned 
under  death  penalty],  like  books  of  magic. 

(3.)  Every  dealer  in  business,  and  every  service,  is  strictly  forbid- 
den ;  and  also  no  wonder-cure  [miracle-cure]  shall  be  received  from 
them,  in  which  the  Christian  Jews  use  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  whether 
a  sick  person,  or  an  animal. 

(4.)  It  is  strictly  forbidden  to  use  any  medicine  received  from  Chris- 
tians, lest  it  shall  convert  him  [to  Christianity].*^ 

(5.)  A  Gentile  who  employs  himself  in  the  law  is  guilty  of  death. 
He  is  not  to  employ  himself  except  in  the  Seven  Commandments,  which 
belong  to  the  Gentiles.  And  thus  a  Gentile  who  keeps  a  Sabbath-day, 
though  it  be  one  of  the  week-days,  if  he  make  it  to  himself  a  Sabbath, 
is  guilty  of  death.  .  .  .  But  if  he  employs  himself  in  the  law  or 
keeps  the  Sabbath,  or  makes  an  innovation,  he  is  to  be  beaten  and  pun- 
ished, and  informed  that  he  is  guilty  of  death;  but  he  is  not  to  be 
killed."  « 

(6.)  A  Noahite  \i.  e.,  Gentile]  who  has  become  a  proselyte,  and  has 
been  circumcised  and  baptized,  and  afterwards  wishes  to  return  from 

«  Comp.  John  vill,  48,  and  Iv,  9.       «  D'rp 

**  Hilchoth  TphiUah,  c.  11,  a;  and  Dally  Prayers  In  Synag.,  fol.  36,  of  Prnyer- 
liook,  Part  11,  p.  127. 

<5  Talmud.  Tosi/ta  Chulin,  e.  2,  A-vondah  Sara,  17,  a;  27,  b;  Chulin,  2S,  a  and  b. 

*^  Hilchoth  Mrlachini,  c.  x,9;  Sa7i?iedr,  toi.  59,  col.  1.  See  also  Bdersheim's 
Jetus  the  Messiah,  Vol.  I,  p.  93. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Pkimative  Christiaxs.        361 

the  Lord,  and  to  be  only  a  sojourning  proselyte  as  he  was  before,  is  not 
to  be  listened  to;  on  the  contrary,  either  let  him  be  an  Israelite  in 
everything,  or  let  him  be  put  to  death." '*^ 

(7.)  A  Gentile  woman  is  not  to  be  delivered  upon  the  [Jewish] 
Sabbath-day,  not  even  for  payment ;  neither  is  the  enmity  to  be  regai*ded. 
It  is  not  to  be  done,  even  if  no  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  is  implied.*^ 

II.  Roman  Persecutions. 

Among  Roman  writers  of  fame  who  were  most  active  in 
creating  a  public  sentiment  against  the  Christians,  inciting 
the  populace  to  acts  of  violence,  and  instiffatine- 

^    ^  '  °  °    §  257.  Liter- 

the  imperial  and  local  government  to  persecu-  ary  Persecu- 
tion, were  Porphyry,  who  wrote  iif teen  books  for  ^^°^^- 
that  purpose,  and  Hierocles,  whom  Lactantius  mentions  as 
being  both  "a  persecutor,  and  an  adviser  of  persecution." 
Lucian  and  Celsus  were  conspicuous  for  their  hostility;  the 
former  furnishing  in  general  the  ground  of  opposition,  and 
the  latter  illustrating  the  spirit  engendered  in  what  is  com- 
monly designated  "the  ten  persecutions"  of  the  Christians. 

a)  Lucian  wrote:  "These  miserable  men  have  no  doubt  that  they 
shall  be  immortal  and  live  forever;  therefore  they  contemn  death,  and 
many  surrender  themselves  to  sufferings.  Moreover,  their  first  Law- 
giver has  taught  them  that  they  were  all  brethren  when  once  they  had 
turned  and  renounced  the  gods  of  the  Greeks,  and  worshiped  that  Master 
of  theirs  who  was  crucified,  and  engage  to  live  according  to  his  laws."^^ 

/3)  Celsus  wrote:  "They  must  make  their  choice  between  two 
alternatives ;  if  they  refuse  to  render  due  service  to  the  gods,  and  to 
respect  those  who  are  set  over  the  service,  let  them  not  come  to  manhood, 
or  marry  wives  or  have  children,  or  indeed  take  any  share  in  the  affairs  of 
life;  but  let  them  depart  hence  with  all  speed,  and  leave  no  posterity  behind 
them,  that  such  a  race  may  become  extinct  from  the  face  of  the  earth."  ^^ 

Roman  historians  testify  unequivocally  to  the  open  hostil- 
ity of  emperors,  led  by  Nero,  who  exercised  their 

.  ^        J,,     .     ■  ,.    •  8  258.  Impe- 

power  to  exterminate  the  Christian  religion,  or  rial  Persecu- 
force  those  who  embraced  it  to  become  idolaters.        tio^^s- 
In  the  year  64,  Nero  ordered  that  the  city  of  Rome  should  be 
set  on  fire  in  order  that  he  might  rebuild  it  with  marble  in 
palatial  magnificence.     To  escape  the  fury  of  the   populace, 

*'  Hilchoth  Melach.  c.  x,  3.  « Ilil.  Melach.  li,  12. 

*^Lard.  vll,  280.  ^Oriyen  contra  Celsuin,  vlii.  5-5. 


362         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

which  threatened  his  life  for  this  outrage  on  the  people 
and  imperial  crime  against  society,  he  basely  attributed  his 
own  guilt  to  the  defenseless  Christians  who  were  his  loyal 
subjects.  He  proceeded  to  inflict  the  most  exquisite  tortures 
upon  them  as  a  class,  who  were  entirely  innocent,  as  the  fol- 
lowing testimonies  prove  beyond  recall.  Of  this  conflagra- 
tion and  the  facts  cited,  we  have  ample  evidence  from  the 
writings  of  several  famous  historians. 

1.  Tacitus:  " Nero  falsely  charged  the  guilt,  and  punished  with  the 
most  exquisite  torture,  the  persons  .  .  .  commonly  called  Chris- 
tians. ...  A  vast  number  were  convicted,  not  so  much  of  the  crime 
of  incendiarism  as  that  of  hatred  of  the  human  race.^^  And  in  their 
deaths  they  were  made  the  subjects  of  sport ;  for  they  were  wrapped  in 
the  hides  of  beasts  and  torn  to  pieces  by  dogs,  or  nailed  to  crosses,  or  set 
on  fire,  and,  when  the  day  declined,  were  burned  alive  to  serve  for  noc- 
turnal lights.^2  Nero  offered  his  own  gardens  for  the  spectacle,  and  also 
exhibited  a  chariot  on  the  occasion  ;  and  now  mingling  with  the  crowd 
in  the  dress  of  a  charioteer,  now  actually  holding  the  reins,  mience 
arose  a  feeling  of  compassion  for  the  sufferers,  though  justly  held  to  be 
odious,  because  they  seemed  not  to  be  cut  off  for  the  public  good,  but  as  the 
victims  of  the  ferocity  of  one  man."^ 

2.  Suetonius  :  "  Moreover,  he  spared  neither  the  people  of  Rome,  nor 
the  capital  of  his  country.  .  .  .  He  pretended  to  be  disgusted  with 
the  old  buildings  and  the  narrow  and  winding  sti'eets  ;  he  set  the  city  on 
fire  so  openly,  that  many  of  consular  rank  caught  his  own  household 
servants  on  their  property  with  tow  and  torches,  but  durst  not  meddle 
with  them.  There  being  near  his  Golden  House  some  granaries,  the  site 
of  which  he  exceedingly  coveted,  they  were  battered  as  if  with  ma- 
chines of  war,  and  set  on  fire,  the  walls  being  built  of  stone.  During  six 
days  and  seven  nights  this  terrible  devastation  continued,  the  people 
being  obliged  to  fly  to  the  tombs  and  monumenis  for  lodging  and  shel- 
ter. .  .  .  This  fire  he  beheld  from  a  tower  in  the  house  of  Maecenas, 
and  being  greatly  delighted,  as  he  said,  with  the  beautiful  effects  of  the 
conflagration,  he  sung  a  poem  on  the  ruin  of  Troy,  in  the  tragic  dress  he 
used  on  the  stage."  ^*  "  He  likewise  inflicted  punishments  on  the  Chris- 
tians, a  sort  of  people  who  held  a  new  and  impious  superstition."''^ 

^^"Odio  humani  generis,''''  an  ambiguous  expression,  which  Thiersch  and 
others  understand  to  read  the  hatred  of  mankind  towards  the  Christians. 

s*The  old  Scholiast  contains  two  Interesting  passages  referring  to  this  cir- 
cumstance: "In  the  public  shows  of  Nero,  living  men  were  burnt;  for  he 
ordered  them  to  be  covered  with  wax  that  they  might  give  light  to  the  spec- 
tators." "He  covered  certain  mischievous  men  with  pitch  and  paper  and  wax, 
and  then  commanded  Are  to  be  applied  to  them  that  they  might  burn." 

6»  Annals,  xv,  44.  "  Lives  of  the  Twelve  Ca'sars,  Nero,  c.  38. 

w  lb.  c.  16.  Super stitionis  nova;  et  male/ica;,"  the  last  word  referring  to  witch- 
craft or  enchantment;  i.  e.,  Christian  miracles. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.         363 

Speaking  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  Suetonius  says:  "He  banished 
from  Rome  all  the  Jews,  who  were  continually  making  disturbances  at 
the  instigation  of  one  Chrestus  "  [Chrestus  =  Ghristus  =  Christ]  .^"^ 

Such  were  the  sufferings  inflicted  upon  the  Christians  for 
the  crime  of  being  good.     Eecently  an  attempt  was  made  to 
show  that  the  Annals  of  Tacitus  are  a  forgery  of 
one  Pogio  Bracciolini,  an  Italian,  dating  in  the  monies  con- 
fifteenth    century.      But   this    theory   has   been       amatory, 
thoroughly  refuted,  and  is  now  abandoned.     The  genuineness 
of   the  work   has  been  substantiated   by  the   agreement  of 
minute  details  with  coins  of  that  date,  and  inscriptions  dis- 
covered since  that  time.^^    There  is  also  to  be  added  the  cor- 
roborative testimony  of  Jerome,  who  mentions  the  existence  of 
the  Annals  of  Tacitus  in  his  day.     But  we  have  the  strong  con- 
firming testimony  of  the  infidel  historian,  Edward  Gibbon, 
who  indorses  the  testimony  of  Tacitus  touching  the  inflictions 
upon  the  Christians  on  account  of  the  burning  of  Rome,  in 
this  language : 

a)  "  The  most  skeptical  criticism  is  obliged  to  respect  the  truth  of 
this  extraordinary  fact  [i.  e.,  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians]  and  the 
integrity  of  this  celebrated  passage  of  Tacitus.  The  former  [the  truth] 
is  confirmed  by  the  diligent  and  accurate  Suetonius,  who  mentions  the 
punishment  which  Nero  inflicted  on  the  Christians,  a  sect  of  men  who 
embraced  a  'new  and  criminal  superstition.'  The  latter  [the  integrity 
of  the  passage]  may  be  proved  by  the  consent  of  the  most  ancient  manu- 
scripts, by  the  inimitable  character  of  the  style  of  Tacitus,  by  the  repu- 
tation which  guarded  his  text  from  the  interpolations,"  etc.*^ 

/3)  Sulpicius  Severus,  an  historian  of  the  Christian  Church 
who  wrote  in  elegant  style  in  the  fourth  century,  substantiates 
again  the  facts  narrated  by  Tacitus.     He  says: 

"In  the  meantime  the  number  of  the  Christians  was  greatly  in- 
creased. There  happened  a  fire  at  Rome  while  Nero  was  at  Antium ; 
nevertheless,  the  general  opinion  of  all  men  casts  the  blame  of  the  fire 
upon  the  emperor  [himself].  And  it  was  supposed  that  his  aim  therein 
was  that  he  might  have  the  glory  of  raising  the  city  again  in  greater 
splendor.  Nor  could  he  by  any  means  suppress  the  common  rumor  that 
the  fire  was  owing  to  his  orders.     He  therefore  endeavored  to  cast  the 

^ Lives  of  the  Twelve  Ccesars,  Claudius,  c.  25.  Hence  Paul  met  Aqulla  at  Cor- 
inth, "with  his  wife  PrlsclUa,  because  that  Claudius  had  commanded  all  the  Jews  to 
depart  from  Rome."     (  Acts  xvlil,  1,  2. )    This  also  excluded  the  Christian  Jews. 

6'  See  Cyclop.  Brit,  under  Tacitus. 

ii Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Millman's  (American)  ed..  Vol.  I,  602. 


364         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

reproach  of  it  upon  the  Christians.  And  exquisite  tortures  were  in- 
flicted upon  innocent  men  ;  and,  moreover,  new  kinds  of  death  were  in- 
vented. Some  were  tied  up  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  that  they  might 
be  worried  to  death  by  dogs.  Many  were  crucified.  Others  were 
burned  to  death,  and  they  were  set  up  as  lights  in  the  night-time.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians.  Afterwards  the 
profession  of  the  Christian  religion  ivas  prohibited  by  the  laws,  and  edicts 
were  published  that  no  man  might  be  a  Christian.  At  that  time  Paul  and 
Peter  were  condemned  to  death.  The  former  was  beheaded  ;  Peter  was 
crucified."  *^ 

7)  Tertullian  says:  "Consult  your  histories  ;  you  will  find  that  Nero 
was  the  first  who  assailed  with  the  imperial  sword  the  Christian  sect, 
making  progress  then  especially  at  Rome.  But  we  glory  in  having  our 
condemnation  hallowed  by  the  hostility  of  such  a  wretch.  For  any  one 
who  knows  him  can  understand  that,  not  excepting  as  being  of  singular 
excellence,  did  any  thing  bring  on  it  Nero's  condemnation."  Chris- 
tianity "  under  Nero  was  ruthlessly  condemned  ;  and  you  may  weigh  its 
worth  and  character,  even  from  the  person  of  its  persecutor.  If  that 
prince  was  a  pious  man,  then  the  Christians  are  impious;  if  he  was 
just,  if  he  was  pure,  then  Christians  are  unjust  and  impure ;  if  he  was 
not  a  public  enemy,  we  are  enemies  of  our  country.  What  sort  of  men 
we  are  our  prosecutor  shows,  since  he  of  course  punished  that  which 
produced  hostility  to  himself." ^"^ 

8)  A  Monumental  Inscription  in  Portugal  dedicated  to 
Nero  furnishes  an  added  interest,  as  well  as  a  strong  confir- 
mation, in  regard  to  the  procedures  of  that  emperor  against 
the  Christians.  The  monument  celebrates  his  name  on 
account  of  his  success  in  clearing  that  country  of  two  enor- 
mous evils,  "Kobbers  and  Christians!"  A  translation  of  the 
inscription  is  this: 

TO  NEKO  CLAUDIUS  CAESAR 

AUGUSTUS  HIGH  PKIEST 

FOR  CLEARING  THE  PROVINCE 

OF  ROBBERS,  AND  THOSE 

WHO  TAUGHT  MANKIND 

A    NEW   SUPERSTITION. 


¥: 


*  Neroni.  Cii.  Caes.  Aug.  Pont.  Max.  Ob.  Proving.  Lathronib.  Et_ 
His.  Qui.  Novam.  Generi.  Hum.  Superstition.  Inoulau.  Purgatam.  This 
nionument  no  longer  exists,  but  Is  Inserted  on  tlio  autliorlty  of  "Ap.  Gru- 
ter,  p.  289."  See  Lardner's  Worlts,  vl,  623.  Its  dlsappeariince  could  not  prove  it  to 
be  spurious,  and  a  public  monument  could  not  possibly  be  fraudulently  Imposed 
upon  a  given  community  and  civilization  witbout  being  questioned  from  the 
first. 

M  Sacred  Hist.,  Lib.  11,  c.  41,  20.       «"  Apoloc/y,  c.  5  ;  and  Ad  Nationcs,  Lib.,  1,  c.7. 


The  Peksecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        .'>65 

e)  Edward  Gihhon,  the  skeptical  historian  of  Rome,  gives 
his  testimony  in  reference  to  some  of  the  earlier  imperial  per- 
secutors of  the  Christians.     He  says : 

"  The  ^nnaZs  of  the  emperors  exhibit  a  strong  and  various  picture 
of  human  nature,  which  we  shall  vainly  seek  among  the  mixed  and 
doubtful  characters  of  modern  history.  In  the  conduct  of  these  mon- 
archs  we  may  trace  the  utmost  lines  of  vice  and  virtue  ;  the  most  exalted 
perfection  and  the  meanest  degeneracy  of  our  own  species.  The  Golden 
Age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines  had  been  preceded  by  an  Age  of  Iron. 
It  is  almost  superfluous  to  enumerate  the  unworthy  successors  of 
Augustus.  Their  unparalleled  vices,  and  the  splendid  theater  on  which  they 
acted,  have  saved  them  from  oblivion.  The  dark  and  unrelenting  Tiberius, 
the  furious  Caligula,  the  feeble  Claudius,  the  profligate  and  cruel  Nero, 
the  beastly  Vitellius,  and  the  timid  and  inhuman  Domitian,  are  condemned 
TO  EVERLASTING  INFAMY.  Duriiig  fourscorc  years  Rome  groaned  beneath 
an  unremitting  tyranny,  which  exterminated  the  most  ancient  families 
of  the  Republic,  and  was  fatal  to  almost  every  virtue  and  every  talent 
that  arose  in  that  unhappy  period."  ^^ 

From  his  province  as  proconsul  of  Pontus  and 
Bithynia,  Pliny  the  younger  wrote  to  the  Em-  cution  Under 

rri      •         X  J    •  X        •         i       u  •  Caius  Pliny. 

peror    Irajan  tor  advice  reierring  to  his  proper 
treatment  of  the  Christians.     Among  other  particulars  con- 
tained in  this  official  letter  are  the  following: 

"  I  have  pursued  this  course  towards  those  who  have  been  brought 
before  me  as  Christians.  I  asked  them  lohether  they  were  Christians  ;  if 
they  confessed  [that  they  were]  I  repeated  the  question  the  second  and 
a  thii'd  time,  adding  threats  of  punishment.  If  they  still  persevered,  / 
ordered  them  to  be  led  away  to  punishment;  for  I  could  not  doubt,  whatever  the 
nature  of  their  profession  might  be,  that  a  stubborn  and  unyielding  obsti- 
nacy certainly  deserved  to  be  punished  [with  death] !  There  were  others 
also  under  like  infatuation.  .  .  .  But  the  crime  spread,  as  is  wont 
to  happen  while  the  persecutions  were  going  on.  .  .  .  An  information 
was  presented  to  me  without  any  name  subscribed,  accusing  a  large 
number  of  persons  who  denied  that  they  were  Christians  or  ever  had 
been.  They  repeated  after  me  an  invocation  of  the  gods,  and  with  wine  aitd 
frankincense  made  supplication  to  your  statue,  which  I  had  ordered  to  he 
brought  in  for  this  purpose,  together  tvith  the  statues  of  the  deities.  Moreover, 
they  reviled  the  name  of  Christ.  Whereas  those  who  are  truly  Christians,  it  is 
said,  can  not  be  forced  to  do  any  of  these  things.  I  thought,  therefore,  that 
they  ought  to  be  discharged.  Others  were  named  by  an  informer,  who  at 
first  confessed  themselves  Christians,  but  afterwards  denied  it.  The 
rest  affirmed  that  they  had  been  Christians,  but   they  had  renounced 

^^ Roman  Empire,  1, 130, 131. 


366         Historical  EvroENCE  or  the  New  Testament. 

their  error.  .  .  .  They  all  did  homage  to  your  statue  and  the  images 
of  the  gods,  and  at  the  same  time  reviled  the  name  of  Christ.  ...  It 
is  easy  to  imagine  what  a  multitude  of  men  might  be  reclaimed,  if  par- 
don should  be  offered  to  those  who  repent  [of  having  been  Christians].^' ^ 
The  Emperor  Trajan's  Rescript  to  Pliny  Junior. 

"  Trajan  us  Plinio,  S. 

"Trajan  to  Pliny  wisheth  health  and  happiness.      You  have  taken 

the  right   course,  my    dear    Pliny,    in    your    proceedings    with   those 

who  have  been  brought  before  you  as  Christians ;  for  it 

8  261.  Rescript  jg  impossible  to  establish  any  one  rule  that  shall  hold  uni- 

Pliny  versally.       They  are  not  to  be   sought   for.      If  any  are 

brought  before  you,  and  are  convicted  [for  being  Chris- 
tians] they  ought  to  he  punished.  However,  he  that  denies  his  being  a 
Christian,  and  makes  it  evident  in  fact — that  is,  by  supplicating  to  our 
gods — though  he  be  suspected  to  have  been  formerly  ,  let  him  be  par- 
doned upon  repentance.  But  in  no  case  of  any  ci'ime  whatever,  may  a 
bill  of  information  be  received  without  being  signed  by  him  who  pre- 
sents it ;  for  that  would  be  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  unworthy  of 
my  government."^ 

The  Emperor  Hadrian's*  Rescript  to  Serenius  Granianus, 

Who  was  proconsul  of  Asia,  and  had  written  to  the  emperor:  "  It  seems  to 

me  unjust  that  the  Christians  should  he  put  to  death  only  to 

§  262.  Rescript   gratify  the  clamor  of  the  people,  without  trial,  and  without 

^       .  any  crime  proved  against  them."    As  Minucius  Fundanus, 

meantime    had    succeeded     to    the     proconsulship    of 

Granianus,  the  emperor's  Rescript  was  addressed  to  him  as  follows: 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  an  affair  which  ought  not  to  be  passed 
over  without  examination  if  it  were  only  to  prevent  disturbances  being 
made  among  the  people,  and  that  room  may  not  be  left  for  informers 
to  practice  their  wicked  arts.  If,  therefore,  the  people  of  the  province 
will  appear  publicly,  and  in  a  legal  way,  charge  the  Christians,  that 
they  may  answer  for  themselves  in  court,  and  not  pi-oceed  [against 
them]  by  importunate  demands  only,  and  loud  clamors,  for  it  is 
much  the  better  method  if  any  one  bring  accusations,  that  you  should 
examine  them — if  any  one  shall  accuse  and  bring  out  anything  con- 
trary to  the  law,  do  you  determine  according  to  the  nature  of  the  crime. 
But,  by  Hercules !  if  the  charge  is  only  a  calumny,  do  you  take  care  to 
punish  the  author  of  it  with  the  severity  it  deserves."^ 

The  Emperor  Diocletian  (284-305),  though 
cution  of  the  son  of  a  slave,  proved  to  be  in  the  main  an 
Diocletian.    ^^-^^   ^^^  judicious  ruler,  but  he  was  a  man  of 

superstition  and  a  despot.     The   Coptic  Churches  of  Egypt 

*  Hadrian  was  emperor  A.  D.  117-138. 

«2  See  Excursux  P.  for  the  letter  complete.  ^  Lib.  x,  98. 

**  Euseblus,  Eccl.  Hist,  iv,  cc.  8,  9. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        367 

and  Abyssinia  reckon   the  "Era  of  Martyrs"   as   beginning 
with  his  reign.      Dr.  Schaff  says : 

"In  303,  Diocletian  issued  in  rapid  succession  three  edicts,  each 
more  severe  than  its  predecessor.  Maximian  issued  the  fourth,  the 
worst  of  all,  April  30,  304.  Christian  churches  were  to  be  destroyed ; 
all  copies  of  the  Bible  were  to  be  burned ;  all  Christians  were  to  be 
deprived  of  all  public  offices  and  civil  rights ;  and  at  last,  without 
exception,  were  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  upon  pain  of  death."  "  The 
persecution  began  on  the  twenty-third  of  February,  303,  the  feast  of 
the  Terminalia  (as  if  to  make  an  end  of  the  Christian  sect),  with  the 
destruction  of  the  magnificent  church  in  Nicomedia,  and  soon  spread 
over  the  whole  Roman  Empire,  except  Gaul,  Britain  and  Spain." ^ 

Besides  the  open  confession  of  persecution  by     ^^^  ^  ^^^^ 
the  enemies  of  Christianity,  it  is  due  the  suffer-  getic  confir- 
ing  victims  of  their  ferocity  that  they  should  be 
heard  in  their  own  defense.     In  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the 
Jew,  the  writer  says : 

a)  Justin  Martyr:  "These  things  have  happened  to  you  in  fairness 
and  justice ;  for  you  have  slain  the  Just  One  and  his  prophets  before 
him,  and  you  have  rejected  those  who  hope  in  him,  .  .  .  cursing  in 
your  synagogues  those  who  believe  on  Christ."  "  For  other  nations  have 
not  inflicted  on  us  and  on  Christ  this  wrong  to  such  an  extent  as  you 
have,  who  in  very  deed  are  the  authors  of  the  prejudice  against  the 
Just  One  and  us  who  hold  by  him."^ 

/3)  Epistle  to  Diognetus  :  'Are  not  all  [the  gods]  deaf  and  blind?  Are 
they  not  soulless,  senseless,  motionless  ?  Do  they  not  all  rot  and  decay  ? 
These  things  ye  call  gods ;  to  these  ye  [heathen]  are  slaves ;  these  ye 
worship;  and  ye  end  by  becoming  altogether  like  them.  Therefore  ye 
hate  the  Christians,  because  they  do  not  consider  these  to  be  gods.  For  do 
not  ye  yourselves  who  now  regard  and  worship  them,  much  more  despise 
themf"  The  Christians  "obey  the  laws,  and  they  surpass  the  laws  in 
their  own  lives.  They  love  all  men,  and  they  are  persecuted  by  all. 
They  are  ignored,  and  yet  they  are  condemned.  They  are  put  to  death, 
and  yet  they  are  endued  with  life.  .  .  .  They  are  evil  spoken  of,  and 
yet  they  are  vindicated.  They  are  reviled,  and  they  bless;  they  are 
insulted,  and  [yet]  they  respect.  Doing  good,  they  are  punished  as 
evil-doers.  .  .  .  War  is  waged  against  them  as  aliens  by  the  Jews, 
and  persecution  is  carried  on  against  them  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  yet  those 
that  hate  them  can  not  tell  the  reason  of  their  hostility;  .  .  .  thrown  to 
wild  beasts  that  they  may  deny  the  Lord,  and  yet  are  not  overcome."  " 

«  Hist.  Christ.  Ch.  11,  66,  67.  <^  Dialogue,  cc.  16,  17. 

«  Bp.  Llghtfoot's  Apos.  Fathers,  %  2,  5,  7. 
24 


368         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

7)  Apollonius:  Jesus  "was  slain,  as  were  also  before  him  philoso- 
phers and  just  men.  For  the  just  are  seen  to  be  a  cause  of  offense  to  the 
unjust."  '^ 

S)  Tertullian  :  "  O  blasphemy,  bordering  on  martyrdom,  which  now 
attests  me  to  be  a  Christian,  while  for  that  very  account  detests  me. 
The  cursing  of  a  well-maintained  discipline  is  a  blessing  of  the  name."^® 
"  We  lay  this  before  you  as  the  first  ground  on  which  we  urge  that  your 
hatred  of  the  name  '  Christian '  is  unjust."  "  You  think  the  Christian 
a  man  of  crime,  an  enemy  of  the  gods,  of  the  emperor,  of  the  laws,  of 
good  morals,  of  all  nature ;  yet  you  compel  him  to  deny,  that  you  may 
acquit  him,  which  without  his  denial  you  could  not  do.  You  play  fast- 
and-loose  with  the  laws.  ...  In  our  case,  you  are  either  ashamed  or 
unwilling  to  mention  the  name  of  our  crimes.  If  to  be  called  '  a  Christian ' 
does  not  imply  any  crime,  the  name  is  surely  vei'y  hateful  when  that  of 
itself  is  made  a  crime." ''^  "But  now  without  any  sifting  or  knowl- 
edge .  .  .  the  mere  name  is  made  a  matter  of  accusation  ;  the  mere 
name  is  assailed,  and  a  sound  alone  brings  condemnation  both  on  a  sect 
and  its  Author,  while  of  both  you  are  ignorant,  [but]  because  they  have 
such  and  such  a  designation,  not  because  they  are  convicted  of  any 
wrong."  ^^  "  When  you  stei'nly  lay  it  down  in  your  sentences,  '  It  is  not 
lawful  for  you  [Christians]  to  exist,'  and  with  unhesitating  rigor  you 
enjoin  this  to  be  carried  out,  you  exhibit  the  violence  and  unjust  dom- 
ination of  mere  tyranny,  if  you  deny  a  thing  to  be  lawful  simply  on  the 
ground  that  you  wish  it  to  be  unlavful,  not  because  it  ought  to  be."''^ 
"  For  but  lately,  in  condemning  a  Christian  to  the  leno  rather  than  the 
leo,  you  made  confession  that  a  taint  on  our  pui'ity  is  considered  among 
us  something  moi-e  terrible  than  any  punishment,  and  any  death."" 

Two  eminent  Roman  historians,  each  independently  of  the 

other,  have  completely  exonerated  the  Christians  at  Rome  of 

the  charge  of  incendiarism  in  the  ffreat  confla- 

§265.  Review  "  ° 

of  gration  in  the  year  64,  which  was  made  by  Nero 

the  occasion  of  the  first  great  persecution  on 
the  part  of  the  Romans.  Edward  Gibbon,  Sulpicius  Severus, 
and  Tertullian  unqualifiedly  confirm  their  statements  of  the 
main  facts,  and  add  many  details.  All  are  agreed  in  opinion, 
and  also  reflect  the  popular  belief  of  the  contemporaries  of 
the  event,  that  the  firing  of  Rome  was  the  crime  of  one  man, 
and  that  was  the  crime  of  Nero  the  Emperor  himself.     This 

*i  Monuments  of  Early  Christianity,  c.  46.  '^^  Idolatry,  c,  14. 

">  Apology  before  tho  Rom.  Senate,  co.  1,  2.       "i6.  e.  3,  close.       ''*Ib.  c,  4. 
'3i6.  c,  50.    '■'•  Lcno    .    .    .    ieo  "=subjected  to  the  seducer  to  be  debauched,  Of 
to  the  Hon  to  be  devoured. 


The  PERSECcrTio>fs  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        369 

itself  justifies  the  statement  of  Tacitus,  that  in  consequence 
of  the  terrible  inflictions  imposed  upon  the  innocent  Chris- 
tians, there  arose  among  the  spectators  of  their  sufferings  "  a 
feeling  of  compassion  toward  the  sufferers  because  they  seemed 
not  to  he  cut  off  for  the  public  good,  but  as  the  victims  of  the 
ferocity  of  one  man^  In  the  nature  of  the  case  but  few  per- 
sons could  conspire  together  in  the  work  of  incendiarism,  so 
that  in  no  event  could  that  accusation  be  brought  against  the 
whole  body  of  Christians.  Besides,  the  monumental  evidence 
in  the  province  of  Portugal  proves  how  the  persecution,  inau- 
gurated by  the  emperor,  spread  to  the  different  and  remote 
parts  of  the  empire,  seeking  to  exterminate  the  people  who 
were  Christians.  An  official  correspondence,  here  noted,  con- 
ducted between  Pliny  and  the  Emperor  Trajan,  relates  exclu- 
sively to  the  persecution  of  the  Christians,  and  describes  how 
it  shall  be  conducted.  The  Christian  religion  itself  is  called 
and  treated  as  "  a  crimed''  Loyalty  to  Christ  was  esteemed  to 
be  disloyalty  to  the  government.  The  fortitude  and  faithful- 
ness of  Christians  under  trial  were  regarded  as  a  contumacious 
"  unyielding  obstinacy  "  towards  the  proconsul  himself,  which 
he  would  not  brook,  but  condemned  as  worthy  of  death.  He 
doubts  "  whether  repentance  entitled  to  pardon,"  and  "whether 
to  renounce  his  error  shall  avail  nothing  for  him  who  had  once 
been  a  Christian ;  whether  the  [mere]  name  itself  without  any 
crime  [attaching]  should  subject  to  punishment."  For  as 
Professor  W.  M.  Pamsay  aptly  remarks,  "  Pliny  and  Trajan 
treat  them  [Christians]  as  outlaws  and  brigands,  and  punish 
them  without  reference  to  crimes."  "  Pliny  and  Trajan  both 
assume  that  Christianity  is  itself  a  crime  deserving  of  death." ''^ 
Serenius  Granianus,  another  proconsul  of  Asia,  protests  vigor- 
ously against  the  recent  departure  from  Koman  law  and  justice 
in  that,  in  his  province,  Christians  had  been  put  to  death 
without  the  preferring  of  charges,  without  law,  without  trial, 
without  proof,  and  without  defense,  on  the  mere  clamors  of 

M  The  Church  in  tJie  Roman  Empire,  pp.  245,  248. 


370         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  fierce  and  fanatical  populace.      Diocletian,  who  reigned 

conjointly  with  Maximian  (A.  D.   292-305),  inaugurated  a 

persecution  of  ten  years  or  more,  during  which  churches  were 

burned  down,  the  sacred  books  were  burned  up,  innocent  men 

proscribed,  and  many  martyrs  made  at  the  stake.     Edward 

Gibbon  admits  that — 

"The  ancient  apologists  of  Christianity  have  censured  with  equal 
truth  and  severity  the  irregular  conduct  of  their  persecutors,  who,  con- 
trary to  every  principle  of  judicial  proceeding,  admitted  the  use  of 
torture  in  order  to  obtain,  not  a  confession,  but  a  denial  of  the  crime, 
which  was  the  object  of  their  inquiry." 

Notwithstanding,  he  becomes  apologist  for  the  persecutors 
in  the  same  paragraph.  He  insists  that  those  who  confessed 
that  they  were  Christians,  or  were  so  attested  by  others,  "  still 
retained  in  their  own  power  the  alternative  of  life  and  death ;" 
that  the  magistrate  "  was  persuaded  that  he  offered  them  an 
easy  pardon,  since  if  they  consented  to  cast  a  few  grains  of 
incense  upon  the  altar,  they  were  dismissed  from  the  tribunal 
in  safety  and  with  applause  !"^^  But  according  to  the  evi. 
dence  adduced,  the  only  crime  confessed  or  attested  by  others 
was  that  they  were  Christians;  that  they  refused  to  sacrifice 
to  the  heathen  gods,  or  burn  incense  to  the  statue  of  C£esar, 
and  would  not  curse  the  name  of  Christ  their  Redeemer.^ 
The  very  suggestion  of  such  a  surrender  to  the  superstitious 
heathen  is  unworthy  of  the  character  of  the  great  historian. 

There  were  several  distinctive  periods  or  epochs  in  the 
history  of  these  Christian  persecutions  which  should  be 
remarked.  Firsts  that  in  which  the  Romans  were  indifferent 
to  the  Christian  religion,  and  had  not  yet  learned  to  discrim- 
inate it  from  the  religion  of  the  Jews.  From  their  subordi- 
nation to  the  Romans,  the  Jews  had  granted  to  them  and 
guaranteed  the  rights  and  customs  of  their  religion.  This 
lack  of  distinguishing  between  the  religion  of  the  two  explains 
the  remark  of  Suetonius,  "Claudius  banished  from  Rome  all 


''^Decline and  Fall,  etc.,  1,  612. 

'•See  Pliny's  Epistle  to  Trajan,  In  Excursus  B. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        871 

the  Jews,  who  were  continually  making  disturbances  at  the 
instigation  of  one  Christ" — an  obvious  reference  to  the  dis- 
putations which  naturally  arose  between  these  two  classes  of 
the  one  race  concerning  Jesus.  If  it  was  a  period  of  indiffer- 
ence on  the  part  of  the  Romans,  it  was  certainly  a  period  of 
intense  activity,  hatred,  and  persecution  of  the  Christians  on 
the  part  of  the  Jews,  especially  in  the  community  about 
Jerusalem. 

The  second  period  was  that  in  which  the  Christians  were 
accused  of  most  abominable  crimes, — incendiarism,  child- 
murder,  cannibalism,  and  the  like.  The  first  instance  which 
furnished  an  occasion  for  persecution  was  the  great  conflagra- 
tion in  the  year  64,  which  destroyed  most  of  the  city  of  Rome. 
The  Emperor  Kero  charged  the  Christians  with  the  crime  of 
incendiarism.  Tacitus  unqualifiedly  affirms  that  "  Nero  falsely 
charged  the  guilt,  and  punished  with  the  most  exquisite  tor- 
ture, the  persons  .  .  .  commonly  called  Christians."  Sue- 
tonius openly  declares  that  the  guilt  of  incendiarism  was  the 
crime  of  no  other  than  of  Nero  himself,  whose  emissaries  were 
caught  in  the  very  act,  and  claimed  to  be  acting  under  impe- 
rial orders.  When  his  life  was  threatened  by  the  infuriated 
mob,  he  blamed  the  Christians  with  the  crime,  and  proceeded 
to  punish  them  with  the  "exquisite  torture"  and  burning 
alive,  described  by  Tacitus. 

The  third  epoch  is  that  in  which  Trajan  and  Pliny  ruled 
as  indicated.  There  were  investigations  conducted  by  Pliny ; 
but,  so  far  as  appears,  the  only  offense  of  the  Christians  was 
that  of  hatred  and  hostility  to  mankind.  The  only  question 
asked  to  be  answered  was,  ^^Are  you  a  OhristicmT''  It  was 
the  one  question  which  Pliny  asked  twice  and  thrice  in  his 
investigations  respecting  those  brought  to  his  tribunal.  No 
questions  were  asked  about  any  specific  acts  of  crime,  after  the 
torture  of  the  two  women  called  "deaconesses."  The  mere 
acknowledgment  that  they  were  "Christians"  was  the  one 
sufficient  thing  to  determine  their  condemnation  unto  death. 


372  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Test  anient. 

"Without  evidence  or  trial,  they  were  classed  with  robbers  and 
brigands,  and  treated  as  outlaws. 

The  fourth  epoch  may  be  designated  as  "  the  Diocletian  per- 
secution." Maximian  ruled  with  him  conjointly  A.  D.  294-305, 
when  both  resigned ;  but  the  persecution  which  they  inaugu- 
rated by  their  edicts  in  303  continued  for  at  least  ten  years, 
and  was  exceedingly  distressing.  Innocent  men  were  pro- 
scribed, their  property  confiscated,  their  persons  martyred, 
their  churches  were  destroyed,  and  the  Christians  were  re- 
quired to  bring  forth  their  Scriptures  and  burn  them  publicly, 
under  pain  of  being  themselves  burned.  Sulpicius  Severus 
says,  "Never  was  the  world  more  wasted  by  any  war."  The 
destruction  of  the  Scriptures,  of  which,  at  this  early  date, 
there  were  probably  but  comparatively  few  copies  in  exist- 
ence, will  account  for  the  fact  that  we  have  transmitted  to 
us  no  known  Greek  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament  dating 
earlier  than  A.  D.  325.  The  end  of  this  persecution  brings  us 
to  near  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  the  first  Christian 
emperor. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  consider  more  particularly  what 
occasion  the  Christians  furnished  for  these  high-handed  perse- 
cutions which  looked   for  their  extermination. 

§266.   Occasion 

for  The  principal  reasons  were  manifold,  and  to  the 

Persecution,  pp^^^j  .^^^  powerful  Komans  aggravating.  The 
Christians  did  not  hesitate  to  refuse  absolutely  to  render  idola- 
trous homage  to  the  statue  of  the  emperor;  refused  to  recog- 
nize or  worship  the  heathen  gods  chosen  by  the  State ;  and  on 
purely  conscientious  grounds,  as  a  sovereign  and  inherent 
rierht,  refused  to  execrate  the  Name  of  Christ.  Moreover, 
they  not  only  ignored  the  religion  of  the  empire,  but  sought 
to  introduce  a  "new"  and  an  illegal  religion  in  the  worship 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  Creator  and  Lord  of  all.  The  Romans  did 
not  recognize  the  inalienable  rights  of  conscience  in  any  man, 
and,  as  they  saw  it,  loyalty  to  Christ  meant  disloyalty  to  the 
government,  which  was  treason  and  punishable  with  death. 


The  Persecutions  op  the  Primitive  Christians.        373 


The  Eoman  Government  and  people  were  the  more  devoted 
to  their  own  religion  because  it  was  their  ancestral  religion, 
and  accordingly  opposed  resolutely  whatever  proposed  to  dis- 
place and  destroy  their  own  ancient  faith.  This  was  the  more 
exasperating  to  them,  inasmuch  as  Christianity  was,  in  their 
view,  the  seditious  offshoot  from  Judaism,  and  from  a  place 
regarded  as  the  very  hearthstone  of  a  detested  superstition ; 
itself  "a  new  and  mischievous  superstition"  which  had  no 
history  before  it,  and  no  nation  behind  it,  to  make  it  respect- 
able, and  which,  withal,  sought  to  elevate  and  impose  upon 
others,  as  an  object  of  vforship,  one  who  had  been  crucified 
between  two  thieves  as  an  outlaw — a  "dead  Jew," 
Dr.  Philip  Schaflf  represents  the  situation  thus: 

"The  piety  of  Romulus  and  Numa  was  believed  to  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  power  of  Rome.  To  the  favor  of  the  deities  of  the 
Republic,  the  brilliant  success  of  the  Roman  arms  was  attributed.  .  .  . 
The  emperor  [himself]  was  ex  officio  the  pontifex  maximus  [high  priest 
of  the  empire],  and  even  an  object  of  worship.  The  gods  were  national, 
and  the  eagle  of  Jupiter  Oapitolinus  moved  as  a  good  genius  before  the 
world-conquering  legions.  Cicero  lays  down  as  a  principle  of  legisla- 
tion, that  no  one  should  he  allowed  to  worship  foreign  gods,  unless  they  were 
recognized  by  public  statute.  Maecenas  counseled  Augustus :  'Honor  the 
gods  according  to  the  custom  of  our  ancestors,  and  compel  others  to  worship 
them.     Hate  and  publish  those  who  bring  in  strange  gods.'  " 

"  In  North  Africa  arose  the  proverb  :  '  If  God  does  not  send  rain, 
lay  it  on  the  Christians.'"  "At  every  inundation,  or  drought,  or  famine, 
or  pestilence,  the  fanatical  populace  cried,  'Away  with  the  Atheists!' 
'  To  the  lions  with  the  Christians  !'  Persecutions  were  sometimes  started 
by  priests,  jugglers,  merchants,  and  others  who  derived  their  support 
from  their  idolatrous  worship.  These,  like  Demetrius  of  Ephesus,  and 
the  masters  of  the  sorceress  at  Philippi,  kindled  the  fanaticism  and  in- 
dignation of  the  mob  against  '  the  new  religion,'  for  its  interference 
with  their  gains."" 

a)  Celsus  wrote  :  "  O  sincere  believers,  you  find  fault  with  us  because 
we  do  not  recognize  this  individual  [Jesus]  as  God,  nor  agree  that  he 
endured  these  [sufferings]  for  the  benefit  of  mankind."^* 
"If  you  should  tell  them  that  Jesus  is  not  the  Son  of  8267.  The  Wit- 

T16SS    of 

God,  but  that  God  is  the  Father  of  all,  and  that  he  alone      persecutors 

should  be  truly  worshiped,  they  would  not  consent  to 

discontinue  their  worship  of  him  as  their  leader  in  the  sedition.    And 

'^T  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  il,  41-44;  comp.  Acts  xlx,  24;  xvl,  16.  ii^Cels.  11,  38. 


374         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

they  call  him  the  Son  of  God,  not  out  of  any  extreme  reverence  for  God, 
but  from  an  extreme  desire  to  extol  Jesus  Christ.  "^^  "You  .  .  .  set 
up  as  a  God  one  who  ended  a  most  infamous  life  by  a  most  miserable 
death."  ^ 

/3)  Porphyry:  " That  man  is  not  so  much  of  an  Atheist  who  neglects 
the  worship  of  the  images  of  the  gods  as  he  who  transfers  to  God  the 
opinions  of  the  multitude."  ^^  "  For  since  Jesus  has  been  honored,  none 
have  received  any  public  benefit  from  the  gods."*^  "Jesus  Christ  is  a 
man  illustrious  for  piety,  and  he  is  more  powerful  than  Ji^sculapius 
and  all  the  other  gods."  ^  "  Christ,  therefore,  is  not  to  be  calumniated  ; 
they  should  be  pitied  who  worship  him  as  God."** 

7)  Hierocles:  "That  all  may  perceive  our  just  and  reasonable  judg- 
ment, and  the  levity  of  the  Christians,  forasmuch  as  we  do  not  esteem 
him  [ApoUonius]  who  did  these  things  a  god,  but  a  man  favored  by  the 
gods,  .  ,  .  whereas  they  [the  Christians],  for  the  sake  of  a  few 
tricks,  call  Jesus  God  !  "  ^ 

8)  Julian:  "When  the  Alexandrian  Christians  presented  to 
the  emperor  a  petition  requesting  that  he  would  revoke  his 
edict  banishing  their  Bishop  Athanasius  from  Egypt,  the 
emperor  replied : 

"By  the  gods,  ye  men  of  Alexandria,  I  am  ashamed  that  any  Alex- 
andrian should  acknowledge  himself  a  Galilean.  .  .  .  Alexander,  the 
Ptolemies  and  other  princes,  their  founders  and  patrons,  were  worship- 
ers of  the  gods ;  and  had  not  raised  their  city  and  constitution  to  its 
grandeur  by  the  words  of  Jesus,  nor  by  the  doctrine  of  the  hateful 
Galileans.  None  of  these  gods  do  ye  worship  ;  but  Jesus,  whom  neither 
you  nor  your  fathers  have  «een,  him  you  think  to  be  God,  the  Word."**^ 
"We  ought  to  pity  rather  than  hate  men  who  suffer  the  gi'eatest 
calamity,  .  .  .  which  calamity  they  bring  upon  themselves  for  for- 
saking the  immortal  gods,  betaking  themselves  to  dead  men."^'^  "  But 
you  love  Christ,  and  esteem  him  the  tutelar  patron  of  your  city,  instead 
of  Jupiter  and  Apollo  of  Daphne."^  "It  concerns  me  extremely  that 
all  the  gods  are  despised."*^  "Forbear  to  converse  with  the  wives, 
children,  and  servants  of  the  Galileans,  who  are  impious  towards  the 
gods,  and  prefer  impiety  to  religion."^" 

A  crude  drawing,  caricaturing  Christ,  discovered  in 
1857,  but  dating  in  the  second  or  third  century,  serves  to 

79  Cel.s.  vill,  14.  »'>Ib.  vli,  5.3. 

"1  Porphyry's  Letter  to  his  wife,  cited  by  Neander  in  Ch.  Hist.  1, 171. 

8s  See  Lard,  vli,  438.  ss/^.  yii,  445.  84  Neand.  Ch.  Hist.  1,  171. 

ef'Lard.  vil,  478,  479.  86/5.  yli,  043.  ^t Edict  to  People  of  Bostra,  lb.  vli,  061, 

i^Miapogon,  lb.  047.  ^^Epis.  to  Ecditius,  lb.  vli,  044. 

^Letter  to  Arsaciux,  high  priest  of  Galatiu,  Jb.  vli,  645, 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        375 

illustrate  the  spirit  of  contempt  for  Jesus  Christ  in  his  death, 
and  ridicule  of  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  Christians 
which  prevailed  at  that  time  about  the  imperial 

T.  P  1    .       -r.  ■         ^        ■,  8  268.  Graffiti 

palace,     it  was  round  m  Kome,  m  the  basement  in 

of  the  Palace  of  the  Cce^ars,  on  the  wall  which  is  <^^"<^^^''e- 
now  in  ruins  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Palatine  Hill,  and  is 
preserved  in  the  KircheriaTio  Museo,  near  the  Vestal  Yirgins. 
The  figure  is  that  of  a  man  clad  in  a  toga,  extended  on  a  cross, 
having  the  head  of  a  horse  or  ass,  and  a  human  figure  before 
it  in  the  attitude  of  homage.  Underneath  is  a  Greek  inscrip- 
tion rudely  scratched,  reading 

"Alexamenos  worships  [his]  God."^^ 
It  is  certain  that  in  the  second  century  both  Jews  and 
Christians  were  ridiculed  as  being  worshipers  of  the  ass ;  and 
it  is  a  known  fact  that  at  this  time  there  were  Christians 
within  the  imperial  palace.  Tertullian  refers  to  another  cari- 
cature on  the  same  subject.  In  his  Apology  to  the  Roman 
Senate  he  says: 

"Lately  a  new  edition  of  our  god  has  been  given  to  the  world  in 
that  great  city  [Rome].  It  originated  with  a  certain  vile  man  [a  Jew 
named  Onocoites],*  who  was  wont  to  hire  himself  out  to  cheat  the  wild 
beasts,  and  who  exhibited  a  picture  with  this  inscription : 

'The  God  of  the  Christians,  born  of  an  Ass.' 
He  had  the  ears  of  an  ass,  was  hoofed  in  one  foot,  carried  a  book,  and 
wore  a  toga.  Both  the  name  and  the  figure  gave  us  amusement.  But 
our  opponents  ought  straightway  to  have  done  homage  to  this  bi- 
formed  divinity ;  for  they  have  acknowledged  gods  dog-headed  and  lion- 
headed,  with  horn  of  buck  and  ram,  with  goatlike  loins,  with  serpent 
legs,  with  wings  sprouting  from  the  back  or  foot!  These  things  we 
have  discussed  out  of  the  abundance,  that  we  might  not  seem  willingly 
to  pass  by  any  rumor  against  us  unrefuted."^ 

Since  the  whole  government  was  so  decidedly  opposed  to 
Christianity,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  Christians  were  ex- 
posed to  every  method  of  persecution  which  caprice  or  malice 

*Or  Onoccetes. 

^I'AXe^d/iei'OC  (r^j3aT[ai]  Oebv.  See  Schaff's  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  ii,  i'72,  note; 
and  Bennett's  Archceol.  of  Christian  Art,  pp.  94,  95. 

^Apology,  c.  16;  comp.  Ad  Nationes,  Lib.  1,  c.  14;  il.  11. 


376  HisTOKiCAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

might  suggest.  The  pen  of  ridicule  prepared  society  to  make 
of  the  Christian  religion  a  laughing-stock ;  the  pencil  of  cari. 
cature  made  their  devotions  a  butt  and  byword  of  scorn  in  the 
community;  and  any  form  of  assault  upon  their  persons  to 
cause  pain  and  suffering  was  considered  as  done  under  the 
sanction  of  a  virtual  license.  This  was  the  natural  sequence 
of  the  fact  that  the  magistrates  of  the  law  gave  away  the 
lives  of  the  Christians  to  the  most  horrible  deaths  on  the 
clamors  of  an  ignorant  and  superstitious  rabble. 

The  character  and  modes  of  Roman  punishment  may  be 

briefly  indicated.     It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  methods 

were  expressly  invented  to  be  inflicted  upon  the 

§  269.   The  i  J  r 

Roman  Christians ;  but  as  they  were  employed  prior  to 
Punishments,  ^j^^  Christian  era,  there  is  no  reason  for  believing 
that  they  were  not  expressly  appropriated  to  that  purpose. 
The  descriptions  given  are  taken  from  the  writings  of  the 
most  prominent  and  reliable  of  the  Roman  minds,  and  all 
were  adverse  to  the  Christian  faith. 

a)  Juvenal:  "Do  you  expose  Tegellinus  [one  of  Nero's  court],  and 
you  will  blaze  in  that  torch  where,  with  throats  transfixed  to  a  stake 
and  emitting  froth,  they  stand  and  burn,  and  you  draw  a  furrow  in  the 
midst  of  the  sand."  ^^ 

^)  Martial:  "You  have  perhaps  seen  recently  acted  in  tlie  theater, 
Mucius,  him  who  thrusts  his  hand  into  the  fire.  If  you  think  such  an 
one  patient,  valiant,  stout,  you  are  a  senseless  dotai'd.  For  it  is  a  much 
greater  thing,  when  threatened  with  the  troublesome  coat,  to  say  '  I  do 
not  sacrifice  [to  thy  gods]'  than  to  obey  the  command,  'Burn  the 
hand.'  "  "^ 

7)  Seneca:  "Imagine  here  a  prison,  crosses,  and  racks,  and  the 
hook  ;  and  a  stake  thrust  through  the  body  and  coming  out  at  the  mouth  ; 
and  limbs  torn  by  chariots  pulling  adverse  ways ;  and  the  coat  be- 
smeared and  interwoven  with  materials  nutriment  for  fire  ;  and,  besides 
these,  whatever  else  cruelty  has  invented.  It  is  no  wonder  if,  in  such 
case,  fear  rises  high  where  the  variety  of  evils  is  so  great,  and  the  prep- 
aration is  so  terrible."^* 
§  270.    III.  The  Voice  of  Modem  Historians. 

1.  Edward  Gibbon:  "The  primitive  Christian  demonstrated  his 
faith  by  his  virtues ;  and  it  was  justly  supposed  that  the  divine  persua- 

^Salura  ( Satira),  1, 155-157.  ^  Lib.  x,  Eplgr.  35. 

»6  Seneca's  Letter,  xlv,  cited  \nLard.  vl,  (537. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        377 


sion  which  enlightened  or  subdued  the  understanding,  must  at  the  same 
time  purify  the  heart  and  direct  the  actions  of  the  believer.  The  first 
apologists  of  Christianity  who  justify  the  innocence  of  their  brethren, 
and  the  writers  of  a  later  period  who  celebrate  the  sanctity  of  their  an- 
cestors, display  in  the  most  lively  colors  the  refoi'mation  of  manners 
which  was  introduced  into  the  w^orld  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
.  .  .  It  is  a  very  ancient  reproach,  suggested  by  the  ignorance  and 
malice  of  infidelity,  that  the  Cliristians  allured  into  their  party  the  most 
atrocious  criminals,  who,  as  soon  as  they  were  touched  by  a  sense  of  re- 
morse, were  easily  persuaded  to  wash  away  in  the  water  of  baptism  the 
guilt  of  their  past  conduct,  for  which  the  temples  of  the  gods  refused  to 
grant  them  any  expiation."  "  Those  who  survey  with  a  curious  eye  the 
revolutions  of  mankind,  may  observe  that  the  gardens  and  circus  of 
Nero  on  the  Vatican,  which  were  polluted  with  the  blood  of  the  first 
Christians,  have  been  rendered  still  more  famous  by  the  triumph  and 
by  the  abuse  of  the  persecuted  religion.  On  the  same  spot  a  temple,  which 
far  surpasses  the  ancient  glories  of  the  Capitol,  has  been  since  erected 
by  the  Christian  pontiffs,  who,  deriving  their  claim  of  universal  do- 
minion from  an  humble  fisherman  of  Galilee,  have  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  the  Caesars,  given  laws  to  the  barbarian  conquerors  of  Rome, 
and  extended  their  spiritual  jurisdiction  from  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic  to 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean."  ^ 

2.  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold :  Referring  to  the  Church  of  San 
Stef  ano  at  Rome,  this  writer  remarks : 

"  It  is  likely  enough,  too,  that  Gibbon  has  truly  accused  the  general 
statements  [given  by  monks]  of  exaggeration.  But  this  is  a  thankless 
labor.  Divide  the  sum  total  of  the  reported  martyrs  by  twenty,  by 
fifty  if  you  will ;  after  all,  you  have  a  number  of  persons  of  all  ages  and 
sexes  suffering  cruel  torments  and  death  for  conscience'  sake  and  for 
Christ's;  and  by  their  sufferings,  manifestly  with  God's  blessing,  in- 
suring the  triumph  of  Christ's  Gospel.  Neither  do  I  think  that  w^e 
consider  the  excellence  of  this  martyr  spirit  half  enough.  ...  As 
God's  grace  enabled  rich  and  delicate  persons,  women  and  even  chil- 
dren, to  endure  all  extremes  of  pain  and  reproach  in  times  past,  so 
there  is  the  same  grace  no  less  mighty  now;  and  if  we  do  not  close 
ourselves  against  it,  it  might  be  in  us  no  less  glorious  in  the  time  of 
trial."  9^ 

3.  "William  E.  H.  Lecky,  himself  a  rationalist,  criticises 
severely  Gibbon's  cold-blooded  account  of  the  early  persecu- 
tions of  the  Christians.     He  says : 

"  The  complete  absence  of  all  sympathy  with  the  heroic  courage 
manifested  by  the  martyrs,  and   the  frigid  and  in  truth  most  unphilo- 

96  Decline  and  Fall,  etc.,  1,  xvi,  pp.  543,  fi02,  Amer.  ed. 
OT  Cited  by  SchaS,  Hist,  of  Christ.  Ch.  11,  81. 


378         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

sophical  severity  with  which  the  historian  [Gibbon]  has  weighed  the 
woi-ds  and  actions  of  men  engaged  in  the  agonies  of  a  deadly  struggle, 
must  repel  every  genei'ous  nature ;  while  the  persistence  with  which  he 
estimates  persecutions  by  the  number  of  deaths,  rather  than  the  amount 
of  suffering,  diverts  the  mind  from  the  really  distinctive  atrocities  of 
the  pagan  persecutions."  "  There  was  a  time  when  it  was  the  just  boast 
of  the  Romans,  that  no  refinement  of  cruelty,  no  prolongation  of  tor- 
ture, were  admitted  in  their  stern  but  simple  penal  code.  But  all  this 
was  changed.  Those  hateful  games  which  made  the  spectacle  of  human 
suffering  and  death  the  delight  of  all  classes,  had  spread  their  brutaliz- 
ing influence  wherever  the  Roman  name  was  known ;  had  rendered 
millions  absolutely  indifferent  to  the  sight  of  human  suffering;  had 
produced  in  many,  in  the  very  center  of  an  advanced  civilization,  a 
relish  and  a  passion  for  torture,  a  rapture  and  an  exultation  in  watching 
the  spasms  of  extreme  agony,  such  as  an  African  or  an  American  savage 
alone  can  equal."  .  .  .  "  For  the  love  of  their  Divine  Master,  for  the 
cause  they  believed  to  be  true,  men  and  even  weak  girls,  endured 
those  things  without  flinching,  when  one  word  would  have  freed  them 
from  their  sufferings.  No  opinions  we  may  form  of  the  proceedings  of 
priests  in  a  later  age,  should  impair  the  reverence  with  which  we 
bend  before  the  martyr's  tomb."^* 

4.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff:  "It  was  not  so  much  the  amount  of  suffering 
which  challenges  our  attention — although  it  was  terrible  enough — as 
the  spirit  with  which  the  early  Christians  bore  it.  Men  and  women  of 
all  classes,  noble  senators  and  learned  bishops,  .  .  .  hoary-headed 
pastors  and  innocent  children,  approached  their  tortures  in  no  temper  of 
unfeeling  indifference  and  obstinate  defiance,  but,  like  their  Divine 
Master,  with  calm  self-possession,  humble  resignation,  gentle  meekness, 
triumphant  hope,  and  forgiving  charity. 

"  Only  two  imperial  persecutions — those  of  Decius  and  Diocletian — 
extended  over  the  empire.  But  Christianity  was  always  an  illegal  re- 
ligion from  Trajan  to  Constantine,  and  subject  to  annoyance  and  violence 
everywhere."  "  The  long  and  bloody  war  of  heathen  Rome  against 
the  Church  .  .  .  utterly  failed.  It  began  in  Rome  under  Nero,  and 
it  ended  near  Rome  at  the  Milvian  bridge  under  Constantine."^ 

5.  McClintock  and  Strong:  "The  very  earliest  sufferings  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  and  its  Head  are  the  subjects  of  New  Testament  his- 
tory. .  .  .  The  last  persecution  of  the  Christians  began  in  the 
nineteenth  year  of  the  Emperor  Diocletian,  A.  D.  303.  The  most 
violent  promoters  of  it  were  Hierocles  the  philosopher,  who  wrote 
against  the  Christian  religion,  and  Galerius,  whom  Diocletian  had 
declared  Cfesar.  .  .  .  The  human  imagination  was  indeed  almost 
exhausted  in  inventing  a  variety  of  tortures."  ^'^ 

^  Hist.  European  Morals,  1,  494,etseq.  ^  IJisl.   Christ.  Church,  11,  7.5,  76,  34. 

100  Cyclop,  vli,  965,  906. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians,        379 


A  GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  SITUATION. 

A  circumstance  injurious  to  the  success  of  Christianity  was 

the  self-exposure  to  persecutions  imposed  upon  all  who  embraced 

and  adhered  to  that  religion.      In  view  of  the 

°  .  §  271.  Char- 

natural  heart,   this   was    necessitated    by    the     acter  of  the 

aggressive  character  of  the  Gospel  itself ,  for  by  °^^®  " 

nature  it  was  more  than  exclusive  of  all  other  religions;  it 
was  uncompromising  in  its  demands  respecting  them.  In  its 
inherent  spirituality  and  purpose,  it  was  thoroughly  antago- 
nistic toward  all  heathen  and  traditional  beliefs  of  men.  It 
recognized  no  friends  among  the  nations;  it  permitted  no 
protection  from  any  earthly  power ;  it  allowed  no  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  disbeliever.  Though  it  employed  the  gentlest 
methods  of  persuasion,  it  exacted  an  unqualified  submission  to 
its  own  behests.  It  could  do  no  less,  since  it  involved  a  move- 
ment of  men's  conscience  in  the  direction  of  truth  as  an  appeal 
for  the  salvation  of  mankind. 

The  Gospel  was  to  be  enforced  by  its  own  exactions.  The 
Christian  apostle  met  the  philosopher  pursuing  his  studies  at 
the  porch  of  the  Academy,  sapng :  "  The  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God."  "  Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of 
this  world?  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  this  world 
to  confound  the  wise ;  .  .  ,  for  it  hath  pleased  God  by  the 
foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  He  met 
the  heathen  priests  beneath  the  shadow  of  their  own  temple, 
attired  in  their  most  gorgeous  apparel,  engaged  in  their  sacer- 
dotal rites  at  the  altars,  and  told  them :  "  Your  pretense  of 
religion  is  a  degrading  superstition  and  a  cheat ! "  He  entered 
the  synagogue  of  the  Jew,  and  said:  "Tour  ceremonies  have 
outlived  their  usefulness;  your  system  has  become  a  mere 
worthless  shell ;  and  your  last  chance  of  eternal  life  is  to  de- 
vote your  whole  heart  and  life  in  service  to  the  Man  of 
Nazareth,  whom  you  have  despised  and  crucified ! "      He  told 


380         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  average  unbeliever:  ''You  are  a  depraved  sinner:  you 
must  repent  of  your  sins  and  reform  your  life,  or  you  will  be 
damned." 

Whatever  beliefs,  wherever  found,  whatever  institutions  of 
ancient  origin,  whatever  laws,  however  wise,  whatever 
customs  however  venerated,  which  had  come  down  from 
antiquity  with  the  sanction  and  sanctity  of  an  ancestral  relig- 
ion, were  required  to  submit  without  qualilication  to  the 
supremacy  of  the  new  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  was 
no  place  left  for  the  pomp  and  display  coveted  by  the 
natural  man.  Temples  built  of  rarest  marbles,  flashing  in  all 
the  lights  of  the  skies;  priests  robed  in  brilliant  costumes, 
ministering  in  ceremonies  on  festive  occasions ;  public  games 
religiously  observed  in  honor  of  Jupiter,  the  supreme  god,  who 
was  supposed  to  preside;  the  imposing  processions  organized 
for  the  entertainment  of  the  populace, — these  were  the  very 
things  to  be  relinquished  and  replaced  by  a  religion  of  humil- 
ity without  display ;  a  religion  which  was  without  a  temple, 
without  an  altar,  without  a  priest,  without  a  sacrifice,  and 
without  the  statue  of  a  god. 

Such  exactions  and  such  antagonisms,  of  course,  enraged 

the  people.     Senators,  magistrates,  magnates,  and  rulers;  men 

of  distinction,  of  position,  and  power  in  society 

fects  on  the     and  in  the  State,  naturally  scorned  the  upstart 

Natural  Man.  ,.     .  («     .i        tvt  i  •    u  i  j  j 

religion  of  the  JNazarene,  which  would  under- 
take in  one  stroke  to  remove  both  the  histories  and  the  mys- 
teries of  their  own  ancient  and  ancestral  worship,  substituting 
a  life  of  self-denial  and  self-humiliation.  Kings  who  had  ruled 
their  realms  in  peace;  emperors  who  were  high  priests  of  the 
religion  of  the  empire;  conquerors  who  had  received  tri- 
umphals  at  the  Roman  Capital,  became  alarmed  and  were 
aroused  to  determined  resistance  and  hostility  to  the  new  and 
pernicious  superstition.  For  all  understood  perfectly  that 
Christianity  proposed  to  displace  the  gods  adopted  by  the 
empire,  and  in  place  enthrone   One  whom  they  designated 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.       381 

"  a  dead  Jew."  Could  any  proposition  have  carried  with  it 
more  to  disgust  and  excite  the  antagonism  of  the  lordly  and 
powerful  Roman?  But  they  were  filled  with  astonishment 
and  dismay  when  they  learned  that  the  people  were  flocking 
by  multitudes  from  the  old  altars  to  embrace  the  new  religion; 
that  their  ancestral  faith,  which  had  been  incorporated  into 
the  very  structure  of  society  and  the  government,  and  had 
applied  to  all  the  civic  functions  of  the  State,  and  ruled  in  all 
the  military  expeditions  of  the  empire,  must  hereafter  be  dis- 
avowed and  destroyed,  for  the  establishment  of  another  king- 
dom which  shall  know  no  end.  Naturally  enough,  as  a  matter 
of  reprisal  and  for  the  suppression  of  the  new  faith,  laws  were 
legislated  making  Christianity  unlawful,  and  imperial  edicts 
were  issued  for  the  extinction  of  the  Christian  religion  by  the 
extermination  of  its  subjects,  declaring  its  acceptance  hence- 
forth an  act  of  high  treason ! 

From  such  ground  it  is  easy  to  see  what  would  naturally 
follow.  Persecutions  fierce  and  cruel  arose,  the  like  of  which 
the  world  has  never  seen.  How  could  Christianity  be  main- 
tained, much  less  voluntary  accessions  be  made  to  its  numbers, 
with  the  opposition  of  the  powerful  government  of  earth  and 
hell?  Everything  was  now  at  stake.  It  darkens  the  soul  to 
contemplate  the  atrocities  perpetrated  upon  a  people  w^hose 
whole  offense  was  the  crime  of  being  good.  On  the  human 
side,  the  most  astounding  wonder  is  that  the  world  should  ever 
hoAje  believed  on  Christ  /  for  his  followers  knew  that  they  must 
be  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  his  sake  and  the  gos- 
pel's; for  the  Savior  had  said  that  he  that  loved  father  or 
mother,  son  or  daughter,  more  than  Christ,  was  not  worthy  of 
him.  Nevertheless,  to  be  driven  from  one's  home,  to  go 
unloved  by  the  nearest  kindred  ;  to  draw  down  upon  one's  self 
the  open  hostility  of  those  dearest  to  us  on  earth,  with  the 
passionate  revenges  of  rulers  who  were  clothed  with  an  irre- 
sponsible power,  is  a  fearful  test  of  human  fidelity.  But  the 
Christians  chose  to  escape  to  the  wilds  and  wastes  of  the  des- 


382  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ert;  to  be  exiled  from  the  dearest  friends  of  affection,  and 
betake  themselves  to  the  solitudes  of  the  wilderness;  to  hold 
fellowship  with  the  wild  beasts  in  the  dens  and  caves  of  the 
mountains;  to  take  refuge  in  the  catacombs  underneath  the 
city  of  Rome,  and  receive  communion  in  remembrance  of 
Christ  in  its  rocky  chapel;  or  die  and  be  buried  by  fellow- 
refugees  in  the  niches  of  those  dark  and  silent  galleries  of 
stone  underground,  satisfied  in  death  to  have  the  simplest  sym- 
bol or  expression  of  their  faith  carved  over  the  place  of  sep- 
ulture, rather  than  make  the  surrender  implied  in  worshiping 
fictitious  gods,  or  revile  the  Savior  s  name.  Their  happiness 
of  spirit  brought  charms  to  the  solitudes  of  their  dwelling- 
place.  Immured  in  dungeons,  they  join  in  midnight  praise- 
meetings,  and  Divine  power  bowed  the  prison  walls,  shook  the 
earth,  and  freed  the  prisoners  from  their  stocks. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  sublime  endurance  for  the 
sake  of  Jesus?     It  certainly  was  not  because  the  primitive 
Christians   possessed   a  sullen    perverseness  of 
tion  in         spirit,  that  in  the  exactions  of  the  Roman  Gov- 
ernment they  so  nobly  braved  such  nameless 
wrongs  without  repining,  choosing  to  suffer  all  kinds  of  insults 
and  injuries  rather  than  recant  their  faith  and  blaspheme  the 
Christ  of  their  love,  or  burn  incense  before  the  statue  of  Caesar 
and  his  false  gods.     Their  only  return  is  made  in  the  sweet- 
ness of  a  forgiving  spirit : 

"  Dearly  beloved,  avenge  not  yourselves,  but  rather  give  place  unto 
wrath.  .  .  .  Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good." 
"  But  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  as  a  thief,  or  as  an  evil- 
doer, or  as  a  busybody  in  other  men's  matters ;  yet  if  any  man  suffer  as 
a  Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed,  but  let  him  glorify  God  on  this 
behalf." 

"  Whence  but  from  heaven  could  men  unskilled  in  arts, 
In  several  ages  born,  in  several  parts. 
Weave  such  agreeing  truths?  or  how,  or  why, 
Should  all  conspire  to  cheat  us  with  a  lie? 
Unasked  their  pains,  ungrateful  their  advice, 
Starving  their  gain,  and  martyrdom  their  price." — Dryden. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Primitive  Christians.        383 


INDUCTIONS. 

The  facts  established  by  the  foregoing  evidence  warrant 
the  following  inductions : 

1.  That  the  real  position,  spirit,  and  character  of  the  primitive 

Christians   were  misunderstood   both   by  the  Jews  and 
Romans. 

2.  That  the  Christians  merely  maintained   their  inalienable 

rights  of   conscience  and  just  judgment   touching   their 
own  worship. 

3.  That  the   imposition  of   tortures  and   death   on   Christ's 

followers  was  a  departure  from  the  ancient  Roman  laws 
and  justice. 

4.  That  the  severity  of  the  Christians'  sufferings  was  such  as 

even  excited  the  sympathy  of  the  heathen  spectators  and 
public. 

5.  That  the  offense  the  most  offensive  to  the  Romans  was  the 

rejection   of  their  deities,  and   the  exaltation  of    Jesus 
Christ  as  God. 

6.  That  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth,  being  spiritual 

and  imperishable,  can  not  be  destroyed  by  any  power 
possessed  by  man. 

7.  That  the  doctrine  and  faith  of  the  primitive  Christians  re- 

specting Jesus  Christ  were  identical  with  those  of  Christen- 
dom to-day. 


25 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

UNIQUE  CONDITION  OF  PALESTINE  FOE  THE 
FIRST  FIFTY  YEAES. 

I.  The  Unique  Condition  op  Society  and  the  Country. 
II.  Two  Civilizations  sidb  by  side  in  one  Community. 

III.  Sudden  Changes  op  Rulers  under  Imperial  Government. 

IV.  Evidential  Value  op  Minor  Circumstances  in  History. 

385 


Chapter  XIV. 

UNIQUE  CONDITION  OF  PALESTINE  FOR 
FIFTY  YEARS. 

§  274.  Sovirces :   Biographical  Epitomes  of  Witnesses  and  Literature. 

1.  Flavius  Josephus  (born  A.  D.  37,  died  about  103),  whose  birth 
occurred  in  the  eighth  year  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  accord- 
ing to  the  Christian  Calendar,  was  born  in  the  first  year  of  the 
reign  of  Caligula,  the  Roman  Emperor.  He  was  accordingly  the 
contemporary  of  the  Apostle  John,  and  died  about  the  same  time. 
Josephus  was  a  priest  of  the  Jews,  a  Pharisee  in  sect,  the 
governor  of  Galilee,  a  general  in  the  Eoman-Jewish  war,  and  an 
historian  in  literature.  He  became  commander  of  the  Jewish 
forces  at  the  famous  fortress  named  Jutapata,  to  resist  the  Roman 
invasion  begun  by  Vespasian.  After  a  siege  of  seven  weeks,  and 
suffering  great  distress,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender ;  an  offense 
to  the  Jews  which  they  have  never  forgiven  him.  A  prisoner  of 
war,  he  was  kindly  treated,  and  had  unusual  privileges  accorded 
him  at  the  Roman  headquarters.  From  thence  he  became  a  per- 
sonal witness  of  all  the  military  details  and  events  which  occurred 
later,  in  the  investment  of  Jerusalem  under  Titus.  He  has  fur- 
nished the  very  best  historical  account  extant  of  the  reduction  of 
the  Holy  City  to  a  ruin,  the  burning  of  the  Jewish  temple,  the 
complete  destruction  of  the  Jewish  nation,  the  expatriation  of 
"  the  peculiar  people,"  and  the  subjection  of  his  surviving  coun- 
trymen to  untold  humiliation  and  distresses,  exactly  accordant 
with  the  sorrowful  pi'ediction  of  Jesus  Christ  concerning  that  gen- 
eration. These  events  occurred  in  A.  D.  70,  and  Josephus  wrote 
his  history  of  this  war  about  the  year  75.  According  to  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Schaff,  this  work  was  completed  prior  to  his  wi'iting 
the  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  which  was  not  long  before  his  death. 
As  indicating  the  character  of  the  Wars,  Josephus  claims  to  have 
had  the  indorsement  of  Vespasian  and  Titus,  the  two  who  con- 
ducted the  invasion,  and  afterwards  became  emperors.  He  also 
states  that  Titus  affixed  his  signature  to  verify  the  accuracy  of  his 
history  of  the  war,  and  that  he  ordered  it  to  be  published ;  and 
that  King  Herod  Agrippa  II,  who  also  had  a  command  against  the 
Jews,  added  his  personal  approval  in  verification,  as  may  be  seen 

387 


388         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

in  two  letters  which  appear  in  the  Life  of  Josephus  prefixed  to  his 
works,  §  65.  For  a  discussion  pro  and  con  respecting  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  celebrated  testimony  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  see 
Appendix  A,  and  Wars  I,  c.  1,  §9. 

2.  Suetonius  (wrote  about  110  A.  D.)  was  the  celebrated  biographer  of 

the  "  Twelve  Caesars  "  who  ruled  the  Roman  Empire.  He  was  the 
secretary  of  Hadrian  through  the  friendly  offices  of  Pliny,  junior. 
That  circumstance  gives  an  added  value  to  these  biographies,  for 
the  reason  that  he  sustained  such  confidential  relations  with  the 
emperor  as  secured  for  him  access  to  the  governmental  archives. 
In  two  of  his  biographies  he  refers  to  Christ,  though  briefly,  and 
to  the  Christians  thrice. 

3.  Cblsus  (wrote  A.  D.  150-175)  was  a  Greek  Eclectic  philosopher,  al- 

though mentioned  by  Origen  as  an  Epicurean.  Nothing  is  known 
of  his  personal  life  or  his  ancestors.  He  was,  however,  the  literary 
champion  and  the  first  writer  who  endeavored  to  extinguish 
Christianity  with  his  pen,  employing  all  the  force  of  learning,  wit, 
and  ridicule  against  the  Christian  faith.  His  work  was  entitled 
A6yog'  'AXij^^r,  A  True  Discourse.  He  first  represents  himself  ficti- 
tiously as  a  Jew  believing  in  the  supernatural — a  belief,  however, 
which  he  actually  rejected ;  and  then  he  endeavoi'ed  to  test  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  principles  of  his  philosophy.  Withal,  he 
is  said  to  have  mingled  much  with  the  Jews  to  learn  all  he  could 
against  Chi-istianity,  making  capital  from  their  unctuous  hate 
toward  the  Christians.  His  work  was  published  about  one  hun- 
dred years  after  the  publication  of  the  four  Gospels,  which  he 
often  cites.  The  Enci/cl.  Britannica,  under  his  name,  observes: 
"  He  takes  note  of  almost  every  objection  which  has  been  brought 
against  Christianity,  and  his  position  is  substantially  that  which 
is  assumed  by  the  scientific  opponents  of  Christianity  in  the  pres- 
ent day."  Dr.  Schaff  remarks:  "  Lardner,  Doddridge,  and  Leland 
made  good  use  of  Celsus  against  the  Deists  of  their  day.  He  may 
with  still  greater  effect  be  turned  against  Strauss  and  Eenan"  in  our 
day. 

We  know  Celsus's  work  only  through  the  reply  of  Origen  in 
refutation,  which  is  entitled  Origen  contra  Celsum.  Origen  re- 
marks: "  We  are  careful  to  guard  against  being  supposed  to  pass 
over  any  of  the  charges  advanced  by  him."  (Bk.  ii,  c.  46 ;  viii,  76.) 
From  these  comprehensive  extracts  made  by  Origen,  the  original 
work  of  Celsus  has  been  reconstructed  by  several  distinguished 
critics,  more  recently  by  Dr.  Keim,  of  Zurich  (1878). 

Celsus  had  a  remarkable  knowledge  of  tlie  contents  of  the 
New  Testament,  mentioning  nearly  every  event  in  our  Lord's  life 
with  great  exactness.  Unquestionably  he  was  tlie  possessor  of  a 
copy  of  those  Scriptures,  the  authorship  of  which  he  again  and 
again   ascribes   to  Christ's  disciples.     Unfortunately  his  work  is 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.      389 


marred  by  a  malignant  spirit,  delighting  in  ridiculing  what  is 
sacred  to  reverent  minds ;  that  which  he  least  understood.  It 
was  in  bad  taste  that  he  employed  opprobrious  and  scandalous 
language  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  Jesus  and  his  mother. 

4.  LivY  (Titus  Livius)  was  born  in  North  Italy  B.  C.  50,  and  resided 

mostly  in  Rome.  He  enjoyed  an  intimacy  with  Claudius  when 
young,  and  also  the  favor  of  the  Emperor  Augustus.  He  acquired 
great  fame  by  his  Annals,  written  in  Latin,  containing  a  history  of 
Rome  from  its  foundation  until  the  death  of  Drusus,  B.  C.  9.  Of 
the  original  142  books,  only  35  are  now  extant.  It  is  divided  into 
Decades,  magnifying  the  Roman  greatness,  and  is  written  in  a 
pleasing  narrative,  unlike  any  other  ancient  history  in  style. 

5.  Plutarch,  a  native  Greek,  studied  philosophy  in  A.  D.  66,  when  Nero 

made  his  notorious  visit  to  Greece ;  became  a  Lecturer  on  Philos- 
ophy in  Rome  during  the  reign  of  Domitiau  (A.  D.  81-96),  and 
died  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian  (117-138).  His  literary  work  by 
which  he  acquired  a  great  reputation  boi-e  the  title  Parallel  Lives. 
It  is  unique  in  character,  consisting  of  forty-six  biographies  of 
notable  men  divided  into  pairs.  It  is  written  in  a  flowing  style, 
and  is  very  intei-esting  and  instructive. 
C.  Alford,  Henry  (1810-1871),  was  a  distinguished  scholar,  theologian, 
and  poet.  A  native  of  London,  a  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, in  1834,  he  became  Dean  of  Canterbury  in  1856.  He  was  a 
Biblical  critic  of  the  first  class.  He  was  the  author  of  a  Oreek 
Testament,  Critically  Revised  Text;  a  Commentary  (4  vols.  1872, 
6th  ed.) 

§  275.  Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  During  the  First  Fifty  Years  of  the 
Christian  Era. 

Inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age,  and  apply  thyself  to  that  which 
their  fathers  have  searched  out.  .  .  .  Shall  not  they  teach  thee 
and  tell  thee  ? — Job. 

Let  all  the  nations  be  gathered  together.  .  .  .  Who  among  them 
can  declare  this,  and  show  us  former  things  ?  Let  them  bring 
their  witnesses,  that  they  may  be  justified ;  or  let  them  hear  and 
say.  It  is  truth. — Isaiah. 

The  points  where  the  documents  of  the  New  Testament  touch  upon  his- 
tory pi'oper  are  not  direct,  but  indirect,  and  the  allusions  are 
and  must  be  incidental.  But  for  this  very  reason  they  are  ex- 
tremely important  as  respects  their  evidential  value.  ...  To 
maintain  accuracy  in  a  wide  field  of  incidental  allusion  is  a 
matter  of  the  utmost  difficulty  ;  and  no  one  but  an  honest,  truth- 
ful writer  would  venture  on  such  a  perilous  experiment  at  all.  [It 
would  be]  utterly  at  variance  with  the  mythical  spirit  which  the 
narrative  of  the  New  Testament  is  sometimes  affirmed  to  be 
the  product.  .  .  .  [As  such]  its  composers  would  have  no  ob- 
ject to  maintain  accuracy  at  all. — Maclear. 


390         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 


ARGUMENT. 
During  the  first  half-century  of  the  Christian  era  occurred  the  most 
extraordinary  changes  and  apparent  complications  in  the  political 
condition  of  the  land  unparalleled  in  history.  This  anomalous 
condition  of  society  was  due  to  sudden  altei-ations  and  reversions 
in  the  local  governments,  occasioned  by  the  deposing  or  death  of 
the  rulers  severally,  and  the  appointment  of  new  and  different 
functions,  together  with  the  twofold  ruling  of  the  Jews  by  the 
Romans  and  the  Sanhedrin.  The  historical  situation  was  rendered 
exceedingly  diflRcult  of  description  by  any  one,  not  a  native,  living 
in  the  apostolic  times.  Two  different  civilizations  existing  side 
by  side  in  one  community,  having  but  little  in  common,  but 
much  in  diversity  in  respect  to  religion,  language,  laws,  and  polit- 
ical institutions,  rendered  the  situation  complex.  A  study  of  the 
historical  part  of  the  New  Testament  demonstrates  a  marvelous 
insight  on  the  part  of  the  writers  into  the  spirit  and  occurrences 
of  the  times,  and  also  attests  the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of 
the  Gospels  themselves. 

1.  The  unique  Condition  of  the  Country  during  the  First 

Fifty  Years  of  the  Christian  Era. 

2.  Two   Civilizations  side  by   side  in  one  Community  and 

the  Diversities  peculiar  to  each. 

3.  Sudden    Changes    in    Administration    over    the  Jews, 

under  the  Imperial  Government  of  Rome. 

4.  The  Evidential   Value  of  many  Minor    Circumstances 

touching  the  Truth  of  Sacred  History. 

I.  Unique  Condition  of  Society  for  Fifty  Years. 

A  scientific  inquiry  conducted  along  the  line  of  the  internal 

evidence  of  the  New  Testament  in  its  historical  narratives 

which  are  to  have  confirmation  from  various  ex- 

8  276.  The 

Case  ternal  sources,  must  take  account  of  the  polit- 
ical condition  of  Palestine  as  organized  during 
that  particular  period.  Comparisons  instituted  between  the 
contents  of  the  Book  and  the  current  facts  of  the  times  as 
ascertained  from  secular  writers,  with  a  view  to  the  authen- 
ticity of  these  Scriptures,  is  that  which  is  in  request  in  such 
investigation.  Any  correspondences  or  discrepancies  should 
be  noted  as  between  the  sacred  and  secular  writers,  no  matter 
how  brief  or  incidental  the  mention;  whether  relating  to 
persons,  places,  or  periods ;  whether  referring  to  pivotal  occur- 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.        391 

rences  in  history,  or  to  minute  circumstances  of  seemingly 
inconsiderable  importance.  For  such  particulars  furnish  the 
very  evidence  to  be  sought. 

A  multitude  of  subtle  indications  evidence  that  the  sacred 
writers  were  either  personal  witnesses  of  facts  which  they  de- 
scribe in  their  narratives,  or  received  their  information  directly 
from  those  who  were  eye-witnesses.  The  principal  occur- 
rences of  the  times  are  mentioned,  the  names  of  the  political 
rulers  are  given,  sudden  and  surprising  events  are  narrated 
involving  governmental  changes  in  respect  to  both  a  part 
and  the  whole  of  the  Palestinian  country,  all  referred  to  in 
the  most  incidental  manner,  in  terms  of  the  briefest  expression, 
and  then  left  unexplained,  as  if  perfectly  understood  by  the 
writers  themselves  and  their  contemporaries  addressed. 

The  political  situation  of  Palestine  is  to  be  investigated  in 
reference  to  that  period  in  which  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles 
lived  and  labored  for  the  establishment  of  the  ^^„„  ^    ^.^. 

§277.  Condition 

Christian  religion.     Within  the  limits  of  about  of  the 

a  half -century,  beginning  with  the  incarnation 
of  our  Lord  and  extending  to  the  coronation  of  Herod 
Agrippa  II,  great-grandson  of  Herod  the  Great — from  the 
first  to  the  last  of  the  house  of  the  Herods — there  existed  a 
condition  of  public  affairs  probably  never  known  for  the  same 
period  in  the  history  of  the  world.  In  the  year  63  or  64  B.  C, 
Pompey  the  Great  made  a  complete  conquest  of  the  Jews,  and 
captured  Jerusalem.  At  the  opening  of  the  Christian  era,  the 
nation  had  been  for  a  long  time  enduring  the  reign  of  the  first 
Herod ;  for  it  had  been  specifically  stipulated  that  their  king 
should  be  from  their  own  land,  and  they  should  live  under 
their  own  laws,  and  maintain  their  own  religion.  But  Herod 
the  Great  and  his  successors  were  the  merest  dependents  upon 
the  imperial  will  at  Kome.  It  thence  came  to  pass,  in  the 
distribution  of  authority  over  the  Jewish  nation,  that  its  civil 
affairs  were  administered  mostly  by  Romans,  who  were  su- 
preme and  enforced  their  will  by  an  army  of  occupation,  while 


392  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  Jews  governed  themselves  by  a  hierarchy  known  as  the 
Sanhedrin,  which  was  their  supreme  judicial  council.  Each 
had  its  own  appointed  place  and  power.  The  high  priest  had 
usually  been  chosen  as  president  of  the  Council  because  of  his 
eminence  in  wisdom  and  worth ;  but  at  length  the  high  priest- 
hood became  a  political  appointment  and  was  often  changed 
by  Herod  Agrippa  II.  Previously,  and  at  surprisingly  short 
intervals  of  time,  changes  came  touching  both  the  government 
and  the  people,  out  of  which  arose  new  political  divisions  and 
combinations  of  territory,  the  assignment  of  new  rulers  of  an 
entirely  different  character,  by  the  order  of  the  emperor  at 
the  Capital.  These  changes  were  precipitated  sometimes  by 
the  deposing  of  a  ruler,  and  sometimes  by  his  death ;  but  in 
either  case  the  occasion  was  followed  by  a  transfer  or  a  rever- 
sion of  the  territory  to  the  condition  of  a  province,  and  some- 
times by  the  transfer  of  a  king  from  an  inferior  principality 
to  a  kingdom,  each  instance  requiring  a  reorganization  of  the 
governmental  administration. 

The  result  was  that  matters  of  political  geography  among 
the  Jews  in  Palestine,  which  seem  to  have  been  perfectly  sim- 
8  278.  Mistakes  pl^  to  the  Writers  of  that  age,  were  intricate 
of  Writers,  ^^^^i^  difficult  of  understanding,  if  not  absolutely 
complicated,  to  a  writer  of  a  century  or  two  later.  Hence 
Celsus,  the  apostle  of  literary  opposition  to  the  Christians, 
about  a  century  after  the  publication  of  the  Gospels,  made 
egregious  mistakes  in  tracing  the  history  of  the  apostolic 
times ;  a  notable  instance  of  which  occurs  in  his  confounding 
Herod  Antipas,  the  Tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Persea,  with  his 
father,  Herod  the  Great,  the  first  Herodian  king  of  Palestine. 
He  says: 

"The  Chaldeans  are  spoken  of  by  Jesus  as  having  been  induced  to 
come  to  him  at  his  birth  and  woi-ship  him  while  he  was  yet  an  infant  as 
a  God  ;  and  to  have  made  this  known  to  Herod  the  tetrarch ;  and  tliat 
the  latter  sent  and  slew  all  the  infants  that  were  born  about  the  same 
time,"^  etc. 

*  Origen  contra  Celsum,  1,  58. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.        393 

In  like  manner  it  is  claimed  that  the  Roman  historian  Dion 
Cassius's  "  notices  are  confused.  He  scarcely  seems  able  to 
distinguish  between  one  Herod  and  another."  ^  Yet  these 
writers  lived  not  far  i-emote  from  the  events  which  they 
attempt  to  describe.  Such  instances  of  mistake  relating  to 
matters  of  that  period  witness  to  the  extreme  difficulty  and 
dangers  to  which  later  writers  would  be  exposed  who  should 
falsely  attempt  to  represent  themselves  as  living  in  the  Apos- 
tolic Age  when  describing  the  stirring  and  surprising  events 
occurring  around  them.  So  with  the  four  Evangelists  writing 
the  Gospels.  They  must  have  written  in  the  times  ascribed 
to  them,  to  have  written  so  accurately.  One  might  have 
acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a  literary  adventurer,  but  he 
would  have  scant  hope  of  escaping  the  charge  of  being  an 
impostor  or  a  fool  in  presuming  to  foist  upon  mankind  unhis- 
torical  documents  as  being  Gospels  of  truth  purporting  to  have 
been  written  in  that  remarkable  country,  in  those  remarkable 
times.     For  as  remarked  by  Mr.  George  Rawlinson : 

"  It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  in  this  connection  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  period  in  the  whole  range  of  ancient  history  whereof  we 
possess  a  more  full  and  exact  knowledge  than  we  do  of  the  first  of  our 
[Christian]  era."^ 

ISToAv,  the  Evangelists  illustrate  the  times  in  which  they 
lived  b}^  describing  in  the  Gospels  the  current  history  of  the 
period  with  such  remarkable  exactness.  Sometimes  they  de- 
tail main  facts  with  fullness  and  force;  and  sometimes,  also, 
they  pass  important  as  well  as  incidental  circumstances  with 
briefest  mention,  as  being  perfectly  understood  without  re- 
quiring further  remark.  But  in  all  cases,  they  obviously  speak 
out  from  amidst  the  current  events  of  the  Apostolic  Age  in 
which  they  were  living,  without  reseiVe,  and  without  explana- 
tion ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  so  far  from  being  contradicted  by 
any  of  their  contemporaries,  they  are  often  absolutely  con- 

^  Hist,  of  Rome,  xllv,  1111,  Iv,  Ix,  cited  by  Mr.  George  Rawlinson,  Bampton 
Lects.,  Amer.  ed.,  note  21,  end. 
3i6.  p.  383,  n.8,  end. 


394         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

firmed  by  those  unfriendly  to  their  faith,  who  lived  in  or  near 
their  own  times.  And,  withal,  the  Evangelists  mention  public 
occurrences  without  any  strain  or  effort,  without  exaggeration 
or  glorification,  but  rather  with  that  simplicity  and  candor  of 
spirit  which  have  carried  conviction  of  truth  to  millions  of 
minds  in  all  succeeding  ages. 

II.  Two  Civilizations  Side  by  Side  in  one  Community. 

In  the  distribution  of  legal  authority  over  the  Jewish 
nation  there  were  two  jurisdictions.  The  Jewish  Sanhedrin 
§279.  Twofold  was  composcd  of  the  high  priest,  the  elders  and 
Authority.  scribcs;*  but  superior  in  power  was  the  office  of 
the  Roman  procurator,  who  seems  at  this  time  to  have  the 
exclusive  right  over  life  and  death.  We  do  not  know  at  what 
time  the  Jews  lost  their  ancient  power  in  this  respect;  but 
Josephus  mentions  "  Coponius,  .  .  .  who  was  sent  as  pro- 
curator, having  the  power  of  death  put  in  his  hands  by 
Caesar."  ^  Accordingly,  Pilate  said  to  Jesus :  "  Knowest  thou 
not  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  thee,  and  have  power  to  re- 
lease thee?"^  "The  Jews  therefore  said  unto  him:  It  is  not 
lawful  for  us  to  put  any  man  to  death."'  The  Sanhedrin 
could  condemn  Jesus  as  "guilty  [deserving]  of  death,"  but 
were  powerless  to  execute  their  own  verdict.  To  secure  an 
execution,  they  were  compelled  to  deliver  Jesus  to  Pilate,  the 
Roman  procurator.**  This  they  did.  However,  the  indictment 
must  not  refer  merely  to  matters  of  their  religion ;  it  must,  in 
order  to  be  entertained  at  all,  contain  an  averment  of  a  polit- 
ical character.  So  the  wily  conspirators  against  Christ  in- 
serted a  charge  of  treason  against  him:  ""We  found  this  fellow 
perverting  the  nation,  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Csesar, 
saying  that  he  himself  is  king."^ 

When  a  foreign  nation  dominates  another  and  occupies  its 
territory,  it  naturally  imports  its  own  manners  and  procedures, 

♦  Mark  xlv,  53.  <>  Jewish  War,  B.  II,  chapt.  8,  $1.  'John  xlx. 

lib.  xvill,  3L  8  John  xvlll,  35.  «  Luke  xxlll,  1,  2;  cf.  Matt.  xxU,  15-21. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Yeaks.        395 

and  the  mixed  population  then  exhibits  customs  incongruous, 
if  not  conflicting.  So,  during  the  ministry  of  Christ,  and 
afterward,  Palestine  had  its  peculiar  character- 

'  ^  §  280.  Laws 

istics.      Ever  after  Pompey's  conquest  the  Jew-         and 
ish  nation  and  country  were  held  as  a  depend-  ™^' 

ency  upon  the  Roman  Empire;  and  an  army  of  the  Romans 
was  in  occupation,  ready  always  to  enforce  the  requirements 
of  the  rulers,  and  subdue  the  tumultuous  spirit  of  the  Jews. 
By  express  stipulation,  however,  the  Jews  were  from  the  first 
free  to  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  their  religion  and  the  exercise 
of  their  own  laws,  except  the  power  to  impose  and  execute 
death.  Touching  the  situation  Ananias,  the  high-priest,  makes 
this  guarded  concession:  " If  indeed  it  be  necessary  to  adjust 
names  to  deeds,  any  one  might  easily  find  that  the  Romans 
have  indeed  been  those  who  were  the  confirmers  of  our  laws 
unto  us,  and  that  the  enemies  have  been  those  within  [the 
nation]."^"  In  the  final  rebellion  of  the  Jews,  while  Titus 
was  conducting  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  which  eventuated  in 
the  utter  destruction  of  the  city  and  nation,  he  appealed  to 
the  Jews  to  discontinue  their  resistance  as  fanatical.  He  said, 
according  to  Josephus : 

"  In  the  first  place,  we  gave  you  this  land  to  possess  it ;  and,  in  the 
next  place,  have  set  over  you  kings  of  your  own  nation  [viz.,  the  Her- 
ods] ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  have  preserved  the  laws  of  your  fore- 
fathers unto  you,  and  withal  permitted  you  to  live  either  by  yourselves 
or  among  others  as  you  please."  " 

The  historical  argument  as  to  the  fact  that  the  Jews  and 
Romans  at  this  period  were  existing  side  by  side  in  very  pe- 
culiar relations,  as  is  constantly  brought  to  view  in  the  Gospels, 
may  be  further  illustrated  by  many  instances  incidentally 
mentioned  therein.  Two  bodies  of  armed  men  exercised  author- 
ity at  Jerusalem ;  the  one  was  known  as  the  Levitical  temple 
guard  called   "a  band,"^  led   by   "a  captain," ^^  but  armed 

w  Wars,  Iv,  3,  10.  "  Wars,  vl,  6,  2. 

i*Sirerpa,  a  co/ior<;  "a band,  John,  xvlU,  12.  i* SrpaTTj765- Luke xxll, 4,52. 


396         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

"with  staves  and  weapons;"^*  the  same  party  who  arrested 
Jesus  and  bound  him  at  the  garden  of  Gethsemane ;  the  other, 
the  Roman  soldiers  who  were  an  army  of  occupation,  whose 
headquarters  were  at  Caesarea,  one  cohort  consisting  of  four 
hundred  and  twenty  to  six  hundred  soldiers  being  stationed 
at  the  fort  built  at  Jerusalem  named  Antonia,  located  at  the 
northwest  of  the  temple  grounds.  Here  they  were  charged 
with  the  duty  of  guarding  the  public  peace,  especially  on  the 
great  feast-days  of  the  Jews.  It  was  the  duty  of  a  small 
detachment  to  conduct  to  its  completion  the  sentence  of  cruci- 
fixion, and  to  guard  against  the  interference  of  friends  to  take 
the  body  away  without  express  permission  from  the  procura- 
tor.^^ There  were  two  modes  of  inflicting  capital  punishment. 
The  old  law  of  Jewish  independence,  consisting  either  of  ston- 
ing, according  to  the  original  law  of  Moses,  which  was  illegally 
exercised  in  the  case  of  Stephen,  or  of  strangling,  according  to 
the  rabbinical  law  inserted  in  the  Talmud,  in  which  "  strangu- 
lation was  the  mode  of  execution  for  a  learned  man  who 
rebelled  against  their  words  ;"^'^  while  the  Romans,  after 
due  process,  were  addicted  to  first  scourge  the  condemned 
criminal,  and  then  crucify  him."  In  case  of  crucifixion,  the 
Jews  sought  to  mitigate  or  shorten  the  sufferings  by  what  was 
called  crucifragium,  known  in  the  Gospels  as  the  breaking 
of  the  legs  of  the  sufferer. 

Both  Livy  {Titus  Zivius)  and  Josephus,   who 

ment  of        wrote  their  histories  in  the  Apostolic  Period, 
Criminals,       ^^^^  ^^^j,  yv^j^ness  to  the  Roman  custom  of  pun- 
ishment. 

a)  Scourgings.     Livy  affirms  that,  "  after  they   had  been 
scourged  they  fastened  them  to  crosses."  *^     Josephus  says : 

"They  caught  many  of  the  quiet  people  and  brought  them  before 
Florus  I  the  Roman  procurator],  whom  he  first  chastised  with  stripes, 

"Matt,  xxvi,  47;  Mark  xlv,  48;  Luke  xxll,  52;  John  xvlll,  3,    12,  Rev.  Vers. 
"Matt    xxvll,  64;  John  xlx,  28,  24,  88;  Luke  xxlil,  47,  51,  52;  Mark  xv,  43-45. 
'«  Deut.  xlll,  9;  xvll,  7;  Ex.  xvll,4;  Luke  xx,  6;  John  x,81;  vlli,  7;  Acts  vil,  58; 
Talmud,   Sanhedrin,  vl,l,  i;  HilcJioUi,  Mamrim,  c.  1,  2. 

"  Matt,  xxvll,  26;  Mark  xv,  15;  John  xlx,  1.  »8Llvy,  x,9;  he  died  17  A.  D. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestinp:  for  Fifty  Years.        897 

and  then  crucified.  .  .  .  Florus  adventured  to  do  what  no  other 
[procurator]  had  done  before  him,  to  have  men  of  the  equestrian  order 
whipped  and  nailed  to  the  cross  before  the  tribunal."  "So  they  first 
whipped  [them]  .  .  .  before  they  died,  and  [they]  were  then  crucified 
befoi'e  the  walls  of  the  city.  ...  So  the  soldiers,  out  of  wrath  and 
hatred  they  bore  the  Jews,  nailed  those  they  caught,  one  after  one  way 
and  another  after  another,  to  the  crosses  .  .  .  when  the  multitude 
was  so  great  that  room  was  wanting  for  the  crosses,  and  crosses  were 
wanting  for  the  bodies."  ^^ 

/3)  Cross-hearings.  The  Romans  executed  their  laws  with 
rigor  in  cases  of  capital  punishment,  and  their  custom  was  to 
compel  the  condemned  man  to  bear  his  cross  to  the  place  of 
crucifixion.  The  Gospel  records  an  illustration  of  this  re- 
quirement in  the  case  of  Jesus :  "And  he  bearing  his  own  cross, 
went  forth  unto  a  place  called  the  place  of  a  skull,  .  .  .  where 
they  crucified  him."^  Plutarch  wrote:  "Every  kind  of 
wickedness  produces  its  own  torment,  [just  as]  each  one  of  the 
criminals  bears  forth  his  own  cross."  "^^  Artemidorus  of  Ephesus 
said :  "  The  cross  is  the  symbol  of  death ;  and  he  that  is  about 
to  be  nailed  to  it,  first  carries  it  along."  ^ 

y)  Superscription.  A  superscription  placed  by  the  Ro- 
mans on  the  tablet  at  the  head  of  the  cross  was  intended  to 
be  declarative  of  the  supposed  crime  in  any  given  case.  The 
Gospels  mention  this  custom  in  referring  to  the  crucifixion 
of  Jesus.  John  says :  "  Pilate  wrote  a  title  also,  and  put  it  on 
the  cross," ^  and  Matthew  adds,  "and  set  up  over  his  head 
this  accusation."^  His  designation  of  the  superscription  as  an 
"accusation"  is  significant,  not  as  implying  that  the  charge 
Avas  true,  but  that  it  was  merely  an  "accusation"  and  impliedly 
false.*  It  was  a  tri-written  superscription  in  the  principal 
languages  of  the  world  at  that  time ;  in  the  Hebrew,  the  ver- 
nacular of  the  Jews ;  in  the  Greek,  the  commercial  language 
between  nations ;  and  in  Latin,  the  court  language  of  the  Ro- 

*  Rawllnson's  Bampton  Lectures,  1859,  Amer.  ed.,  p.  401,  note. 
»»  Wars,  11,  14.  9;  v.  11,  1.  »"  John  xix,  16-19. 

'i'E/ca<TToc    tCjv  KaKovpytav   iK<p^petTbv  airroO  aravphv. 

'^OveipoKpiriKd  (Interpretation  of  Dreams)  \\,&\.   Artemidorus  (Daldlanus)  was 
a  philosopher  of  Ephesus. 

*«  John  xix,  19,  20.  *<  Matt,  xxvii,  .37,  airla,  accusation. 


398         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

man  Empire.     The  purpose  of  this  tri-written  superscription 
was  to  inform  all  men  what  the  charge  against  Christ  was.^ 

That  this  use  of  the  tablet  and  its  title  is  historical^  will  be 
rendered  sufficiently  obvious  by  a  few  instances: 


"J 


Hesyehius,  a  bishop  of  Egypt,  thus  describes  the  tablet:  "A  board, 
a  door,  a  plastered  tablet,  on  which  in  Athens  accusations  against 
criminals  were  written."  Suetonius,  of  Rome,  mentions  a  man  who 
"  dragged  from  the  theater  the  father  of  a  family,  .  .  .  and  cast  him 
to  the  dogs  in  the  arena,  with  the  title,  ^A  Parmularian  guilty  of  talking 
impiously.'  "  Also,  "At  Rome  in  a  public  feast,  a  slave  having  stolen 
some  thin  plates  of  silver  with  which  the  couches  were  inlaid,  he 
[Caligula]  delivered  him  immediately  to  an  executioner,  with  orders  to 
cut  off  his  hands,  and  lead  him  around  the  guests,  with  them  hanging 
from  his  breast,  and  a  label  signifying  the  cause  of  his  punishment."  ^ 
Dion  Cassius  mentions  a  perfidious  slave  who  was  led  "  through  the 
midst  of  the  market  place  with  a  writing  declaring  the  cause  of  his  death, 
and  afterwards  they  crucified  him."^^ 

8)  Body-Gua/rd.  It  was  another  custom  of  the  Romans,  in 
inflicting  the  death  penalty,  to  place  a  soldier  to  stand  guard 
over  the  body,  lest  some  friend  of  the  criminal  should  ad- 
venture to  take  it  away  for  burial.  In  any  case  express  per- 
mission must  have  been  asked  and  given  by  the  chief  ruler 
before  the  body  could  be  delivered  to  any  one  for  sepulture. 
This  again  is  exactly  accordant  with  the  statements  of  the 
four  Gospels  respecting  the  dead  body  of  Jesus.  They  narrate 
that  Joseph  of  Arimathea  "  went  to  Pilate  and  asked  for  the 
dead  body  of  Jesus.  Then  Pilate  commanded  it  to  be  given 
up.  And  Joseph  took  the  body  and  wrapped  it  in  a  clean 
cloth,  and  laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb  which  he  had  hewn  out 
of  a  rock."®  In  harmony  with  this  usage  is  the  testimony  of 
the  Emperor  Diocletian  (284-303)  and  Maximian  (286-203), 
who  said : 

"  We  do  not  forbid  that  those  who  are  guilty  of  ci'imes,  after  they 


K  Matt.  XX vU,  37;  John  xlx,  1»,  20.  «Z,t/e  Domit.,  c.  10;  Life  Caligula,  c.  82. 

"  History,  llv,  p.  523. 

»Matt.  xxvil,  67,  58;  Mark  zv,  4S-46;  Luke  xxlll,  50-53;  John  xlx,  88. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.        899 

have  been  punished,  should  be  consigned  to  burial." ^9  Ulpianus*  says: 
"  The  bodies  of  those  who  suffered  capital  punishment  are  not  to  be  re- 
fused to  their  friends  ;"  and  Augustus  says,  "At  this  day  the  bodies  of 
persons  in  question  are  not  buried  unless  permission  has  first  been 
sought  and  granted.  And  sometimes  it  is  not  granted,  especially  in  the 
case  of  those  condemned  for  treason."  "  The  bodies  of  those  who  suffer 
punishment  are  to  be  given  to  any  requesting  them  for  interment."  ^ 

c)  Burial.  With  the  Jews,  criminals  were  executed  with- 
out the  gates  of  the  city  wall,  and  were  buried  near  the  place 
of  execution.  The  Jews,  however,  were  accustomed  to  bury 
the  bodies  of  criminals  before  the  set  of  sun,  and  under  no  cir- 
cumstances to  allow  the  body  to  be  exposed  to  birds  of  prey, 
or  to  molder  on  the  cross  under  the  disintegrating  action  of  the 
sun  and  air.  The  law  of  Moses  required  that  when  death  had 
been  thus  inflicted,  the  body  "  should  not  remain  all  night  on 
the  tree,  but  should  be  buried  on  the  day  of  the  execution."  ^^ 
Hence  Josephus,  referring  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  mentions 
the  infamy  of  the  Idumaeans,  who  were  continually  murdering 
those  within  the  city,  and  leaving  their  bodies  unburied.  He 
says: 

"  They  proceeded  to  that  degree  of  impiety  as  to  cast  away  their  dead 
bodies  without  burial,  although  the  Jews  used  to  take  so  much  care  of 
the  burial  of  men,  that  they  took  down  those  who  were  condemned  and 
crucified,  and  buried  them  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun."^^ 

t)  Garments.  The  distribution  of  the  garments  of  the  cru- 
cified was  a  matter  of  the  Roman  law.  Dean  Alford  remarks : 
"The  garments  of  the  executed  were  by  law  the  perquisites  of 
the  soldiers  on  duty."  As  in  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  there 
were  employed  one  centurion  as  commander,  and  four  soldiers 
of  the  ranks ;  the  four  divided  between  them  the  garments  of 
Jesus.® 


*Domitlus  Ulpianu3  (A.  D.  170)  entered  upon  public  life  under  Septimus 
Severus  and  Caracalla  (19S-217).  Ulplanus's  Digest  of  Julian  consists  of  excerpts 
from  his  works,  and  the  Fragments  are  known  as  Tutuli  ex  Corpore  Ulpiani. 

*»  Rawl.  Bampton  Lectures,  p.  402.  *>  Cited  by  Rawlinson,  Id.,  p.  402,  note  62. 

31  Deut.  xxi,  22,  28;  comp.  Acts  v,  30;  x,  39;  xlil,  29,  Gal.  HI,  13;  1  Pet.  11,  24. 

»Wars.  Iv,  5,  2. 

"Alford's  Oreek  Testament,  Vol  I,  in  loco,  6th  ed;  comp.  John  xlx,  23,  p.  899. 

26 


400  Historical  Evidence  of  the  N^ew  Testament. 

1))  Enrollments.  Two  enrollments^  of  the  Jews  in  Pales- 
tine were  made  by  Cyreniiis  (Quirinius)  under  the  order  of  the 
Emperor  Augustus ;  the  first  about  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  B.  C.  4,  which  was  to  ascertain  the  population  of  the 
country;  the  second,  about  ten  years  afterward,  in  A.  D.  6, 
corrected  chronology,  which  was  to  ascertain  the  property  of 
the  people.  The  peculiarity  of  both  instances  is,  that  the  two 
registries  were  Koman  in  authority  and  purpose,  but  entirely 
Jewish  in  the  manner  in  which  the  enrollments  were  effected ; 
that  is,  each  person  and  family,  in  order  to  be  enrolled,  had 
first  to  go  to  the  native  tribal  territory,  wherever  else  the 
residence  might  be.  Hence  Joseph  and  Mary,  who  were  resi- 
dent at  Nazareth,  repaired  to  the  territory  of  Judah ;  and,  by 
this  simple  circumstance,  Jesus  was  born  at  Bethlehem^  of 
Judaea  in  exact  fulfillment  of  prophetic  prediction.^  Then, 
withal,  there  were  two  different  kinds  of  tax  imposed  upon  the 
people ;  the  one  called  "  a  tribute "  tax,  which  Cassar  usually 
exacted  of  a  conquered  country.  The  Pharisees  referred  to 
this  when  they  asked  Jesus :  "  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to 
Caesar,  or  not?"^  The  other  tax,  called  didrachma,  was  given  in 
support  of  the  temple  service,  and  is  referred  to  by  Matthew : 
"  When  they  that  received  the  half -shekel  came  to  Peter  and 
said.  Doth  not  your  Master  pay  the  half-shekel?"^ 

In  recording  time,  the  Evangelists  employ  two  distinct  sys- 
tems of  notation.  Both  methods  were  military  in  character. 
8  282  Nota-  '^^^  distinctive  references  made  in  the  New  Tes- 
tions  of  Time,  tament  are  to  three  particulars;  viz.,  the  several 
watches  of  the  night,  an  interval  of  days  when  inclusive  or 
exclusive  of  the  extremes  in  which  certain  events  occurred, 
and  an  indefinite  date  fixed  in  a  certain  year  in  the  epoch  of  a 
given  ruler. 

6)  Nightrwatches.  The  Jews  originally  divided  the  night 
into  three  watches,  extending  from   sunset   to   ten  o'clock; 

"Luke  11, 1-3;  Acts  V,  37.  »  Luke  11,  4.  "Mlcahv,  2. 

w  Matt,  xxli,  17.  »»  Matt,  xvll,  24. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.        401 

thence  to  two ;  and  thence  to  sunrise.  Jesus  said :  "  Blessed 
are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find 
watching.  .  .  .  And  if  he  shall  come  in  the  second  watch, 
and  if  in  the  third,  and  find  them  so,  blessed  are  those 
servants."  ^ 

Upon  the  other  hand,  the  Romans  observed  four  night- 
watches,  beginning  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  termi- 
nating every  three  hours  severally,  corresponding  with  the 
statement  of  "  four  quaternions  of  soldiers,"  ^  mentioned  as  in 
service  of  Herod  Antipas's  army.  But  in  consequence  of  the 
dominance  of  the  Romans  over  the  Jews,  the  latter  naturally 
conformed  to  the  Roman  usage,  and  computed  the  fourth 
watch  in  dividing  the  night.     So  Mark  says : 

"Watch  therefoi*e,  for  ye  know  not  when  the  lord  of  the  house  com- 
eth, whether  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing  [i.  e.,  three 
o'clock],  or  in  the  morning."*^ 

t)  Intervals.  In  case  of  an  interval  of  several  days  between 
two  events,  the  Romans  excluded  the  two  extreme  days  in 
which  the  two  events  happened,  while  the  Jews  in  their  count 
included  them.  Thus  between  the  promise  of  Christ  and  the 
realization  of  his  transfiguration,  there  is  a  twofold  enumera- 
tion by  the  Evangelists,  Matthew  reckoning  the  time  between 
exclusively,  "After  six  days ;"  ^  while  Luke  reckons  inclusively, 
"About  eight  days  after."  ^ 

k)  Reigns.  The  Romans  dated  important  events  according 
to  a  given  year  in  a  given  emperor's  reign;  but  the  Jews 
reckoned  according  to  the  high  priesthood  of  their  theocracy. 
Now,  Luke  observes  both  methods  in  one  notation,  including 
all  the  several  rulers  in  Palestine  thus : 

"  Now,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius 
Pilate  being  governor  of  Judaea,  and  Herod  [Antipas]  being  tetrarch  of 
Galilee,  and   his  brother  Philip  tetrai'ch  of  the  region  of  Itursea  and 

3»  Luke  xli,  37,  38.  «  Acts  xll,  4 ;  Matt,  xlv,  25. 

«  Mark  xill,  35.  «Matt.  xvll,  1.  «Lukelx,  28. 


402         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Trachonitis,  and  Lysanius  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  in  the  high  priesthood  of 
Annas  and  Caiaphas,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  John,  the  son  of 
Zacharias,  in  the  wilderness,"  **  etc. 

Now,  it  should  be  specially  remarked  that  such  unusual 
particularization  as  this,  if  false,  furnishes  the  readiest  possible 
means  of  detection;  but  on  the  contrary,  if  true,  especially 
when  introduced  into  the  text  incidentally  without  a  word  of 
explanation,  it  furnishes  powerful  evidence  that  these  Scrip- 
tures are  thoroughly  historical,  and  were  written  at  the  time 
usually  ascribed  to  them. 

Very  subtle  but  ingrain  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  a 
given  document  is  to  be  found  in  the  language  which  it  em- 
ploys.    There  are  local  characteristics  and  forms 

'8283.  Test     ^     "^ 

of  of  expression  which  belong  to  and  mark  the  age, 

Language,  ^^^j^  ^^  Latinisms  and  Hebraisms  in  Palestine, 
which  prevailed  in  the  vocabulary  and  literature  of  the  period, 
taken  up  into  Greek  forms  of  language,  relating  to  the  prac- 
tical affairs  of  life  and  religion,  which  convey  by  necessary 
implication  the  thought  of  the  Roman  and  Hebrew  people 
living  together  in  one  body  politic.  They  serve  to  illustrate, 
as  no  other  method  could  do,  a  society  composed  of  two  differ- 
ent civilizations,  having  two  classes  of  institutions,  two  kinds 
of  authority,  two  systems  of  laws,  two  procedures  in  court, 
two  sorts  of  punishments;  all  evidencing  the  peculiar  condi- 
tion of  the  country  at  the  time  of  Christ  and  his  apostles^  a/tid 
at  no  period  since,  when  Roman  power  held  the  occupancy 
and  the  supremacy  in  the  land  of  the  Jews,  all  of  which  was 
brought  to  a  perpetual  end  within  forty  years  after  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a  powerful  verification  both  of 
the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  these  historical  writings,  that 
they  should  find  such  remarkable  confirmation  by  both  Jewish 
and  classic  historians  of  fame.  But  that  which  renders  the 
case    incontrovertible    is  the    fact   that    the    very  language 

*«Luke  ill,  1,  2;  cf.  Ant.  xvlll,  4,  6  ;  xvll,  8, 1,  and  11,  4. 


Ukique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.       403 


imbedded  in  the  accounts  of  the   Gospels   proves   their  age 

by  something  more  substantial   than  the  mere  color  of  the 

period. 

It  has  been  forcefully  said  by  the  scholarly  Trench,  that 

"  Words  are  fossil  histm^y^''  and  that  "  any  one  with  skill  to 

analyze  the  language  might  re-create  for  himself  the  history  of  a 

people  speahing  that  language^^    The  principle  applies  to  the 

historical  New  Testament  without  question.     It  is  the  function 

of  language  to  give  expression  to  the  thought  and  life  of  those 

with  whom  it  was  vernacular. 

Some   illustrations  are   now   to  be   furnished.     We   thus 

have  the  word — 

Centurion^  meaning  the  commander  of  a  hundred  soldiers  of 
the  Eoman  army.^ 

Legion,  usually  a  great  but  indefinite  number;  strictly  4,200 
to  6,000  soldiers.^ 

Proetorium,  the  official  judgment-seat  among  Romans  for  the 
trial  of  causes.^ 

Custody,  a  guard  set  to  watch  and  keep  prisoners  in  their 
power.*^ 

Census,  a  registering  of  population,  or  rating  of  property  val- 
uation for  taxing.^  ^^  ^ 

Quadrans,  a  small  Roman  coin  worth  an  English  "farthing" 
or  an  American  half-cent.^ 


^  Study  of  Words,  p.  96,  Eng.  ed. 

LATIN.  GREEK.  ENGLISH, 

■••  Centurio,  Kevrvplwv,  centurion, 

*>  Legio,  \eye(bv,  a  legion, 

^ PrcEtorium,  irpairuypiov,        judgment-hall,  etc., 

^Custodia,  KovffTwdia,         custody,  watch, 

fio  Census,  K^vtrot;-  tax  enumeration. 

*i  Descriptio,  awoypacp^  ,        enrollment  or  registration. 

^Profiteor,  diroypdcpeffOai   to  make  a  public  return, 

»» Quadrans,  Kodpdmrig-,         farthing,  half-cent, 


REFERENOE. 

Mark  xv,  39,  44,  45. 
Matt,  xxvi,  53;  Luke 

vili,  30. 
John  xviii,  28;   xix, 

9,  etc. 
Matt,  xxvli,  65,  66; 
Matt,  xvii,  25. 
Acts  V,  37. 
Luke  ii,  1-3,  5. 
Matt.  V,    26;    Mark 

xil,42. 


404 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


Assarius^  another  Roman  coin  of  about  the  same  value  as  that 

of  the  quadrans.^ 
Denarius,  translated  by  the  English  "  penny,"  and  worth  about 

two  cents  in  America.^ 
Drachma,  a  silver  coin  of  the  Greeks,  worth  about  sixteen 

cents  in  American  money .^ 
Flagello,  to  scourge,  a  peculiar  form  of  lashing  prisoners  both 

Jewish  and  Roman.^ 
Executioner,  an  oflBcer  of  the  body-guard  to  carry  out  a  judi- 
cial death  sentence.^ 
Besides  these  words,  which  are  mostly  of  Roman  origin, 
there  are  others  employed  in  the  New  Testament  derived  from 
the  Hebrew  or  later  Aramaic  language,  the  letters  of  which 
the  Jews  brought  with  them  from  their  captivity.  Thus  we 
have — 

C'orbam,,  a  sacrificial  or  dedicatory  gift  of  the  temple  service.® 
BahU,   which  means    "My   Master;'"*    and    Eahhoni,    "My 

great  Master."  ^^ 
Raca,  a  senseless,  empty-headed  fellow;  a  fool;  one  who  is 

worthless.^ 
Bar-jona,  a  Hebrew  formula  to  express  "  son  of  Jona."  ^ 


LATIN. 

^Assarius, 


GREEK. 

dcycrdpiov, 


f>^  Denarius,  btjvdpLOv, 


ENGLISH. 

farthing,  a  half-cent, 
penny, 


5«  Drachma, 
"  Flagello, 

68  Speculator, 

HEBREW. 

6" -an, 
*^  xpl 


dpaxfJ'Tl,  [lost]  "  piece  of  silver," 

<f>pa.y€\\6cj,        to  scourge, 


ffTreKOvXdrwp,     executioner. 

GREEK. 

KOpBav, 


ENGLISH. 

"Corban," 
"  Rabbi," 


REFERENCE 

Matt.    X,    29;    Luke 

xll,  6. 
Matt,    xviii,  28;    xx, 

2,    9,    10,    13;    Mark 

vl,37. 
Luke  XV,  8,  9. 

Matt.  xxvil,26;  Mark 

XV,  15. 
Mark  vi,  27. 

RKKERKNOK. 

Mark  vll,  11. 
John  HI,  2. 
John  XX,  16;  x,51* 


'pafi(iovvl,  'pa^^ovl,      Rabbonl, 

'Pa/cd  a    worthless    fel- 

'  low,  a    simple- 

ton. Matt.  V,  22 

Bapduva  Bar-Jona,  son  of 

'^  '  Jona,  Matt,  xvl,  17 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.       405 

Boanerges,  sons  of  thunder,  a  designation  applied  by  Jesus  to 

James  and  John.^ 
Kephas,  a  rock ;  a  name  given  to  Peter  by  Christ,  after  his 

great  confession.^ 
Gehenna,   a   valley  running   east   and   west,   lying   south   of 

Jerusalem.^ 
Talitha  cumi,  "Damsel,  arise;"  words  spoken  by  Jesus  to  the 

daughter  of  Jairus.^ 
Ephphatha,  "Be  thou  opened;"  Christ's  address  to  the  deaf 

and  dumb  man.*^ 
Hosanna,  the  shout  of  the  multitude  on  the  mount  of  Olives, 

near  Jerusalem.*' 
Jot  C),  the  smallest  letter  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet;  and  tittle, 

the  little  tick  on  the  smallest  Hebrew  letter.™ 
By  so  much  as  the  sacred  biographers  represent  in  their 
several  Gospels  the  language  employed  by  the  people  of  the 
country  in  which  they  wrote  during  that  particular  period,  by 
so  much  do  they  demonstrate  both  the  antiquity  and  the 
historicity  of  their  writings. 

Sudden  Changes  in  the  Political  Geography  of  Palestine. 
Frequent  changes  in  the  rulers  and  realms  of  the  country, 
occurring  at  brief  intervals,  necessitated  changes  also  in  the 
form  of  the  local  government.  First,  there  was  an  unbroken 
kingdom  over  all  the  land;  then  through  the  king's  death 
came   divisions   of  the  territory,  with   conversion  into  three 

HEBREW.  GKBBK.  ENGLISH.  KEFEKENOK. 

"iyj"l-'J3  'Roavepykc  "sons    of    thun- Mark  lil,  17. 

.  T    ■•  .  r  f  > »  der," 

« X3'3,  Ktjfpds  Cephas,  John  1, 42.    405 

M  Di;n'Jj  Te^vva,  " Gehenna  "  [flg- 

■  '  ure    of     Perdl-  Matt,  v,  29,  80. 

tionj, 

•'■•pip  i<r\'^a  Ta\i0a  Kovfu,  "Maiden,  arise,"  Mark  v,  41. 

•8nr\3r\K  ictxpaOd,  Ephphatha,  Mark  vil,  34. 

*'KJny'E/in  ixrawb.,  Matt.xxl.9;Mark 

'     *  xi,  9;  John  xii, 

13. 
one   jot    or   one 
'"nriNpp.  IXnnxnv  lOna  ev  t,  ula  Kepala,       tittle,  Matt,  v,  18. 


406         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

principalities  of   unequal  sizes;  then   two   of   the   successors 

were  deposed  and  the  third  ruler  died,  when  two  principalities 

became   Roman   provinces,  and   the   third  was 

§284.  Changes  ^  ' 

of  transferred  to  an  adjacent  kingdom;   then  fol- 

Government.  j^^^^^  unification  of  the  two  provincial  divisions 
with  the  same  kingdom  which  now  covered  the  land;  then, 
after  three  years,  the  king  died,  and  the  kingdom  became  pro- 
vincial, and  was  governed  by  Eoman  procurators ;  when,  after 
a  few  years  more,  a  new  kingdom  was  erected  out  of  a  portion 
of  the  original  territory,  and  the  rest  remained  a  Roman 
province  until  the  end  of  the  Jewish  nationality,  when  all 
became  Roman  again. 

The  point  of  the  argument  to  be  observed  here  is,  that  the 
four  Evangelists,  without  the  least  strain  or  effort,  w^rote  their 
several  Gospels  with  a  strict  understanding  of  the  times,  and 
with  entire  inerrancy  of  statement.  They  refer  to  the  several 
rulers  and  governments  without  any  explanation  of  the  changes, 
in  the  most  familiar  and  incidental  manner,  as  only  those 
could  do  who  lived  in  the  midst  of  these  changes  and  compli- 
cations, as  the  most  celebrated  writers  absolutely  failed  to  do, 
such  as  Tacitus,  Dion  Cassius,  and  Celsus*  did,  who  wrote 
shortly  after  the  Apostolic  Age.  This  justly  puts  the  seal  of 
truth  upon  the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels. 

When  the  nativity  of  Jesus  occurred,  the  whole  land  was 
one  consolidated  kingdom  ruled  by  Herod  the  Great.  The 
king  probably  died  within  a  few  months,  and  his  kingdom 
was  divided  and  transferred  to  his  three  sons ;  but  the  king- 
dom was  changed,  one-half  becoming  an  Ethnarchy,  ruled  by 
his  eldest  son  Archelaus,  and  the  other  half  divided  about 
equally  and  converted  into  two  Tetra/rchies,  governed  respect- 
ively by  Antipas  and  his  brother  Philip  11."^  The  ethnarchy  of 
Archelaus  was  constituted  of  the  several  geographical  divisions 
of  the  country  known  as  Idumaea,  Judaea,  and  Samaria.     That 

*8ee  chap.  Hi,  p.  69,  $37,  note. 
"  Josephus,  Ant.  xvll,  c.  11,  $4. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.       407 

portion  which  fell  to  Antipas  was  the  tetrarchy  constituted  of 
the  two  geographical  divisions  called  Galilee,  a  region  on  the 
west  of  the  Galilean  sea,  and  a  narrow  tract  stretching  from 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  River  and  the 
Dead  Sea.  The  tetrarchy  of  Philip  embraced  that  region  of 
country  to  the  east  of  the  Galilean  Sea  and  Lake  Hulon  or 
Merom,  known  as  "  Batanaea,  Trachonitis,  Auranitis,  and  some 
parts  of  Jamnia."''^ 

Changes  came  in  these  several  administrations  at  brief 
and  irregular  periods.  In  A.  D.  6,  in  corrected  chronology, 
Archelaus  was  deposed  and  banished,  and  his  ethnarchy  was 
reduced  to  a  Roman  province,  governed  by  Coponius,  Procu- 
rator of  Syria.^  The  two  tetrarchies  of  Antipas  and  Philip 
continue  as  tetrarchies.  Then,  in  the  year  34,  Philip  died, 
and  leaving  no  son  to  succeed  him  in  the  government,  his  ter- 
ritory became  a  Roman  province  united  with  that  of  Syria.'* 
In  the  year  37,  Caligula,  having  become  emperor  at  Rome, 
made  the  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,  named  Agrippa,  king 
of  that  country  which  had  been  the  tetrarchy  of  Philip,  and 
seems  to  have  promised  to  add  the  tetrarchy  of  Lysanius.'^  In 
the  year  39,  Antipas  was  deposed  and  banished,  and  his 
tetrarchy  was  incorporated  into  the  kingdom  of  his  nephew 
Agrippa.'®  In  the  year  41,  Claudius  succeeded  Caligula  on 
the  imperial  throne  at  Rome,  and  for  special  services  rendered 
by  Agrippa  I  in  his  interests,  the  emperor  added  "all  that 
country  over  which  Herod  [the  Great],  who  was  his  grand- 
father, had  reigned;  that  is,  Judaea  and  Samaria;"  also  add- 
ing Abila  of  Lysanias's  tetrarchy  thereto. "^  But  now,  in  the 
year  44,  Agrippa  I  died,  and  his  territory,  which  included 
all  Palestine,  became  a  Roman  province;  and  Claudius 
"sent  Cuspius  Fadus  to  be  procurator  of  Judasa,  and  the 
whole  of  the  kingdom."^    Finally,  in  the  year  53,  Claudius 

«  Wars,  B.  11,  c.  6,  $3.  "/6.  11,  8, 1. 

liAnt.  xvlli,  4,  6.  t>  A7it.  xvlll,  6,  10;  xlx,  5,  1. 

'«^n<.  xvlll,  4,  6,  end;  c.  7,  $  2;  Wars,  11,  9,  6.    ti  Ant.  xlx,  5,  1. 

'8/6.  xlx,  9,  1,  2;   Wars,  11, 11,  6. 


408         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

bestowed  upon  the  son  of  Agrippa  I,  known  as  Agrippa 
II,  the  two  tetrarchies  of  Philip  and  Lysanius;^  and  in  the 
3'ear  54,  Kero,  becoming  emperor,  added  several  cities  named 
Abila,  Tiberias,  Tarichaea,  and  Julias,*  with  some  fourteen 
villages.^  All  the  remaining  territory  continued  provincial 
governed  by  procurators,  until  the  close  of  the  Roman-Jewish 
war  in  A.  D.  70,  when  the  Jewish  nationality  was  completely 
destroyed,  and  the  whole  land  once  more  became  Roman. 

A  SUMMARY. 

1.  An  Undivided  Kingdom,  ruled  by  a  native  king  of  the 

Jews,  known  as  Herod  the  Great. 

2.  A  Divided  Domain:    an  ethnarchy  and  two  tetrarchies 

organized  for  Herod's  three  sons. 

3.  A  Fractional  Change:    in  the  year  6,  Archelaus's  eth- 

narchy becomes  a  Roman  province. 

4.  A  Tetrarchy  Reduced:  in  84,  Philip  dies,  and  his  tetrarchy 

becomes  a  Roman  province. 

5.  A  Reconstructed  Kingdom:  in  37,  Agrippa  I  is  made  king 

over  Philip's  old  tetrarchy. 

6.  Accessions  to  Agrippa  I:  he  receives  from  Caligula,  Anti- 
pas's  Galilee  and  Persea. 

7.  Additional  Accessions:  in  51,  Agrippa  receives  from  Clau- 

dius, Samaria  and  Judaea  and  Ablia. 

8.  Kingdom  Abolished:  in  44,  Agrippa  dies,  and  his  whole 

domain  now  becomes  provincial. 

9.  A  New  Kingdom:  in  53,  Agrippa  II  becomes  king  over 

tetrarchies  of  Philip  and  Lysanius. 

10.  Accessions  to  Agrippa  II:  the  Emperor  Nero  adds  four 

cities  and  fourteen  villages. 

11.  Jewish  Nation  Destroyed:  in  A.  D.  70,  the  Jews  were 

expatriated,  and  all  becomes  Roman  again. 

^»Ant.  XX.  7,1;  Wars,  n,  12,  8.  «o  Wars,  li,  IS,  2.  »^AnL  xx,8,4. 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.       409 


The  Evidential  Yalue  of  these  Facts  as  Regards  the 
Four  Gospels. 

The  Evangelists  make  frequent  reference  to  the  rulers  of 
the  land,  calling  them  properly  by  name,  and  sometimes  even 
referring  to   a  given   realm;   but    they    never       c 285  The 
pause  to  explain  changes   in   the   government,         induc- 
er what  was  the  occasion  by  which  rulers  came 
to  office.      They  invariably  assume  the  political  situation  to 
be  just  as  it  was,  and  as  it  was  understood  to  be  by  their  con- 
temporaries  to   whom   they  addressed   their    writings.      To 
them  no  explanations  were  requisite.      But  this  course  would 
obviously  be  a   most  dangerous   procedure  for   any   writers 
to  gain  credence  unless  the  Gospels  were  true.     If  true,  the 
writers  required  no  better  security  than  the  actual  history  of 
the   times,  upon  which  they  evidently  rested   their   case    in 
open  disregard  for  their  own  fame. 

Upon  the  other  hand,  Josephus,  a  contemporary  and  a 
Jewish  historian,  not  only  corroborates  the  existing  facts  of 
the  Gospels  as  assumed,  but  makes  ample  explanations  how 
the  political  changes  came  to  pass.  Closely  and  carefully  does 
he  follow  up  the  transitions  in  the  political  geography  of  the 
whole  country,  giving  the  order,  the  occasion  and  details  re- 
specting the  changes  in  government,  as  well  as  the  names  of 
the  rulers  and  their  respective  realms.  So  far  from  there 
being  any  conflict  between  the  secular  and  the  sacred  writers, 
Josephus  supplements  the  statements  of  the  Evangelists.  But 
these  authors  do  not  follow  the  same  lines  of  history,  as  they 
have  not  the  same  ends  in  view.  Josephus  wrote  expressly 
the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation ;  the  Evangelists  wrote  exclu- 
sively of  the  founding  of  Christianity. 

It  is  fairly  presumable  that  none  but  those  living  in  the 
midst  of  such  abrupt  and  stirring  events  leading  to  such 
apparent  complications  and  transitions,  could  have  composed 


410         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a  true  narrative  of  the  times  and  touch,  upon  the  political  situ- 
ation without  error.  For  if  neither  Tacitus,  the  Roman  writer 
of  fame  who  lived  in  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and  wrote 
just  after  the  Apostolic  Age;  nor  Celsus,  of  the  second  century, 
who  was  the  contemporary  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  and  wrote 
purposely  to  destroy  the  Christian  religion;  nor  yet  Dion  Cas- 
sius,  of  the  third  century,  and  a  contemporary  of  the  Chris- 
tian Apologists,  who  wrote  his  history  in  Greek,  could  really 
understand  to  unravel  the  governmental  complications  of 
the  Apostolic  Period — for  they  made  grave  mistakes,  which 
they  would  not  have  made  had  they  lived  contemporaneously 
with  the  events  they  describe,  and  in  the  very  land  where 
they  occurred — how  is  it  that  the  Evangelists,  simple  in  their 
character  and  unpretentious  in  literary  fame,  were  entirely 
successful  and  inerrant  in  allusion  to  these  events  in  writing 
the  Gospels?  This  challenges  critical  consideration.  There 
is  but  one  answer:  They  lived  and  wrote  in  the  very  epoch 
when  the  events  themselves  occurred  in  the  current  history,  and 
hence  were  familiar  with  the  facts  which  they  record. 

The  peculiarities  arising  out  of  the  Roman  and  Jewish 
civilizations  existing  side  by  side — the  one  in  domination,  and 
the  other  in  subjection,  with  all  that  that  implies — is  not  the 
least  important  circumstance  in  proof  of  the  antiquity  and 
the  historicity  of  the  Gospels.  The  ingrain  evidence  is  found 
in  every  fact,  whether  prominent  or  of  minor  mention,  but  es- 
pecially the  occurrences  of  incidental  record,  which  thread 
through  all  the  contents  of  those  writings,  as  in  the  warp  and 
woof  of  a  fabric. 

Besides  these  proofs  of  historical  character,  there  is  inter- 
nal evidence  imbedded  m  the  very  words  employed,  in  the  Gos- 
pels illustrative  of  the  two  civilizations  composing  one  com- 
munity or  State,  as  seen  in  the  tri-superscription  placed  on  the 
cross  of  Jesus.  It  is  further  demonstrated  in  the  terms  of 
usage  in  their  laws,  in  the  processes  of  their  courts  of  trial,  in 
the  penalties  they  imposed  for  crime,  in  the  designation  of 


Unique  Condition  of  Palestine  for  Fifty  Years.       411 

the  officers  who  inflicted  punishments,  and  in  the  different 
modes  of  execution,  as  shown  by  Livy  the  Roman,  and  Jose- 
phus  the  Jewish  historian.  It  is  further  found  in  their  divisions 
of  time,  their  different  night-watches,  their  inclusive  and  exclu- 
sive dates,  their  fixed  epochs  according  to  the  accession  of 
chief  rulers  and  high  priests.  It  is  also  discoverable  in  the 
Augustan  order  for  the  enrollment  of  the  Jews;  a  Roman  re- 
quirement, but  conducted  in  the  Jewish  method,  which 
brought  Joseph  and  Mary  to  Bethlehem  in  their  tribal  terri- 
tory in  exact  fulfillment  of  prophetic  prediction.  The  gov- 
ernmental history  of  that  land  during  the  first  half-century  of 
the  Christian  era  is  itself  a  monument  in  proof  of  the  accu- 
racy of  the  writers  composing  the  several  gospels,  as  well  as 
of  the  period  in  which  those  writers  lived  and  wrote. 

No  amount  of  reasoning  can  cancel  these  facts  as  unhis- 
torical.  Can  any  candid  mind  ignore  the  force  of  the  facts  ? 
It  is  not  in  the  power  of  genius  to  translate  such  facts  into  fic- 
tion, as  is  implied  in  the  legendary  and  mythological  theories 
of  the  Gospels.  Cmi  all  this  detail^  running  through  the  con- 
tents of  these  sacred  writings  as  verified,  he  true,  and  yet  the 
record  itself  he  false  f  Can  a  conclusion  to  the  contrary  he 
verified  on  the  facts  adduced? 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  ROMAN  RULERS  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENNT. 

o)  CiYiL  Administrations:  Emperors,  Legate,  Procurators,  Procon- 
suls. 

/3)  Roman  Administrators  Related  to  the  History  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment: Their  Character,  the  Occurrences  and  Incidents  op 
Their  Administrations. 

I.  Emperors:  Augustus,    Tiberius,    Caligula,    Claudius, 
Nero. 
II.  Legate:  Quirinius  (Cyrenius). 
III.  Procurators:  Pontius  Pilate,  Antonius  Felix,  Porcius 

Festus. 
IV.  Proconsuls:    Sergius     Paulus    in    Cyprus;    Gallio    in 
Achaia;  and  the  "Proconsuls  in  Asia." 
413 


Chapter  XY. 

THE  ROMAN  EULERS  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT. 

§286.  Roman  Officers  of  Palestine. 

In  reality  it  is  altogether  in  minute  points  that  the  difference  is  to  be 
perceived  between  truth  and  fabrication  — Whatelt. 

Every  quotation  from  Josephus,  Tacitus,  o^r  Suetonius ;  every  fresh 
archaeological  exploration  in  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  or  Greece,  only 
serves  to  illustrate  this  minute  accuracy  with  which  their  titles  are 
given  to  Roman  procurators  and  proconsuls,  Greek  "  politarchs," 
and  Asiatic  sediles,  and  demonstrates  the  fidelity  with  which  the 
dual  system  of  government,  of  military  forces,  and  of  religious 
life,  are  described,  as  blended  together  and  coexistent,  side  by 
side,  at  the  only  period  when  that  coexistence  was  possible,  among 
the  strangest  of  all  strange  people,  the  Jewish  nation. — Macleab. 

The  agreement  to  be  traced  between  sacred  and  profane  narratives  is  to 
be  found  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  in  harmonious  representations  with 
respect  to  facts  which,  in  the  Scripture  narrative,  are  incidentally 
mentioned  as  names,  ofiices,  and  characters  of  political  personages 
to  whom  there  happens  to  be  allusion.  The  value  of  such  confir- 
mation is  not  less,  but  rather  greater,  than  that  of  a  more  direct 
confirmation,  which  would  result  from  an  accordance  with  main 
facts,  because  it  is  a  task  of  extremest  difficulty  for  any  one  but 
an  honest  contemporary  writer  to  maintain  accuracy  in  the  wide 
field  of  incidental  allusion;  and  because  such  exactness  in  such 
matters  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  mythical  spirit  of  which 
according  to  [one]  of  the  latest  phases  of  unbelief,  the  narrative  of 
the  New  Testament  is  the  product.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  the 
detail  is  correct,  and  the  exactness  that  of  persons  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  history  of  the  time  and  bent  on  faithfully 
recording  it,  the  [contrary]  theory  may  be  considered  as  com- 
pletely subverted  and  disproved.  It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind 
in  this  connection  the  fact  that  there  is  no  period  in  the  whole 
range  of  ancient  histoi'y  whereof  we  possess  a  more  full  and 
exact  knowledge  than  we  do  of  the  first  century  of  our  era. — 
Geokge  Rawlinson. 
27  415 


416         B.ISTORICAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


ARGUMENT. 

That  the  Romans  gained  by  conquest  and  maintained  a  political  suprem- 
acy over  the  Jewish  nation,  in  and  after  B.  C.  63,  is  a  fact  which 
is  thoroughly  known  in  history.  Thenceforth  the  two  distinct  and 
dissimilar  civilizations  coexisted  side  by  side  in  one  country  and 
community,  the  Jews  being  held  in  subordination  by  the  presence 
of  the  Roman  army  of  occupation.  Many  striking  coincidences 
occur  in  statement  between  sacred  and  secular  narrativ^es  of 
these  times,  appertaining  to  the  civic  offices  and  ruling  officers 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  This  subordination  and 
domination  of  the  Jews  could  have  occurred  in  but  one  definite 
period  of  time.  If,  then,  it  shall  be  found  that,  however  incidentally 
the  fact  is  mentioned,  and  that  notwithstanding  under  the  re- 
markable changes  occui'ring  in  the  government  and  in  the  political 
divisions  of  the  country,  the  Roman  rulers  are  all  properly  dis- 
tinguished and  placed  in  order,  in  the  right  period  and  divis- 
ion, if  also  events  of  prominence  are  correctly  indicated  as 
having  occurred  accordant  with  accredited  secular  history,  then 
two  inductions  are  logically  inevitable :  viz. ,  that  the  sacred  writers 
have  given  us  an  historical  account  of  these  public  affairs,  so  far 
as  they  go,  and  that  it  is  evident  and  obvious  tliat  the  sacred 
writers  wrote  as  contemporary  with  the  facts  recorded  of  which 
they  had  a  proper  knowledge.  These  inductions  warrant  the  an- 
tiquity and  historicity  of  these  Scriptures. 

1.  Emperors.  3.  Procurators. 

2.  Legatus.  4.  Proconsuls. 

From  the  characteristics  of  society  in  the  Jewish  land  we 

pass  to  the  consideration  of  its  political  Roman  rulers.     The 

emperors  were  the  supreme  heads  of  the   em- 

Buier8°^d^    pire,  holding  the  olRce  for  life.     Augustus,  the 

the  New        fj^st  Roman  Emperor,  effected  a  division   of  the 

Testament.  '■ 

provinces  between  himself  and  the  Senate.  Those 
provinces  which  stood  most  in  need  of  military  force  were  re- 
tained by  him,  and  ruled  by  those  who  were  his  exclusive 
appointments.  They  were  administered  by  procurators  or 
legates;  the  procurator  had  military  power  to  govern  when 
necessary,  but  the  legate  was  a  civic  officer.  A  procurator 
had  an  indefinite  tenure  of  office,  while  that  of  the  legate  was 
limited  from  three  to  five  years.    The  more  peaceful  provinces 


Roman  Rulees  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       417 

were  assigned  by  the  Senate  to  government  of  proconsuls, 
who  were  civil  officers,  and  whose  tenure  was  for  only  one 
year.  The  inferior  offices  not  mentioned  in  the  Kew  Testa- 
ment have  no  place  in  this  historical  investigation. 

EPITOME. 

I.  Emperors:  Augustus,  B.  C.  27-14  A.  D;  Tiberius,  14-37;  Caius  Ca- 
ligula, 37^1 ;  Claudius,  41-54  ;  Nero,  54-68. 
II.  Legate:  Sulpicius  Quirinius  [Gr.  "Cyrenius"],  B.  C.  4-1  A.  D.  and 
6-11   as  governor  of  Syria,*  and  Commissioner  Extraordinary  as 
Registrar  of  Palestine,  in  the  second  appointment. 

III.  Procuratores :  Pontius  Pilate,  A.  D.  26-36;  Antonius  Felix,   53-60; 

Porcius  Festus,  60-62. 

IV.  Proconsuls:^  Sergius  Paulus    of  Cyprus,  46;   Junius  Annseus  Gal- 

lio  of  Achaia,t  53  ;  "Proconsuls  of  Asia." 

I.  Emperoks. 

The  emperors,  whom  the  Romans  called  Imperatores,  exer- 
cised a  supreme  and  universal  authority  over  the  nations  and 
individual  subiects  of  the  empire,  claiming  as  their 

,  §288.  The 

function  the  power  of  life  and  death,  but  also  the  imperial 
right  to  extend  that  power  to  certain  subordinates 
governing  the  provinces.  X  The  emperor  was  also  invested,  as 
chief  pontiff  or  high  priest,  with  the  care  of  the  religion  of  the 
State.  In  honor  of  the  great  Caius  Julius  Csesar  the  first  five 
emperors  assumed  as  the  imperial  title,  the  family  name 
"  Caesar, "  §  which  became  extinct  in  Nero.  To  this  title  was 
added  "  Augustus,"  in  honor  of  the  first  and  famous  Emperor 

*Legatus  Augustl  proprsetore  in  Syria. 

t  Achaia,  as  the  Romans  called  Greece  In  distinction  from  Macedonia  and 
Illyria  on  the  north.    See  Lewin's  Paul,  i,  269,  291,  note. 

t  The  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  a  judicial  body,  seems  to  have  been  deprived  of 
their  power  of  life  and  death  over  Jews  in  Judisa,  and  this  power  was  conferred 
upon  the  procurators  of  that  province.  Josephus  says:  "Coponius,  one  of  the 
equestrian  order,  was  sent  as  a  procurator,  having  the  power  of  death  put  into  his 
hands  by  Csesar."  (  Wars,  11,  8, 1.)  The  Jews  confessed  to  Pilate:  "It  is  not  lawful 
for  us  to  put  any  man  to  death;"  and  Pilate  himself  said  to  Jesus:  "Knowest  thou 
not  that  1  have  the  power  to  release  thee,  and  have  power  to  crucify  thee?"  (John 
xvill,  31;xlx,  10.) 

5  Observe  the  German  Kaiser  for  emperor,  and  the  Russian  Czar,  a  corruption 
of  "Caesar." 

>  Av^i^aToc,  Acts  xiil,  7;  but  sometimes  called  a,\so  proprcetor. 


418         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  the  Romans.  Both  titles  are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testar 
ment.  Some  of  the  emperors,  such  as  Augustus,  Trajan,  and 
Hadrian,  are  considered  to  have  been  men  of  superior  qualities 
and  noble  characteristics;  but  others,  as  Tiberius,  Caligula, 
Claudius,  Nero,  Vitellius,  and  Domitian,  the  famous  historian 
of  the  empire,  Edward  Gibbons,  affirms  "are  condemned  to 
everlasting  infamy." 

1.  Augustus  Caesar  was  the  first  Roman  emperor.     He  was 

nephew  of  the  great  statesman  and  warrior,  Caius  Julius  Csesar 

(B.  C.  100-44).     Augustus  was   born   B.  C.  63, 

8  289.  The      ^  i    p  n     i         ^ 

Emperors  and  he  was  named  for  his  father  Caius  Octavius, 
y.  ^^^  subsequently  assumed  the  name  Caius  Julius 
Caesar  Octavius.  He,  with  Antony  and  Lepidus,  composed  the 
temporary  government  known  as  the  Triumvirate.  But  the 
relations  of  the  three  became  strained,  and  upon  the  retiracy 
of  Lepidus,  a  struggle  ensued  for  the  supremacy  between 
Augustus  and  Antony,  which  finally  culminated  in  the  naval 
battle  at  Actium,  B.  C.  31,  when  Augustus  was  declared  to  be 
Imperator  by  the  Roman  Senate.  But  as  he  now  offered  to 
resign  this  supreme  power,  they  conferred  upon  him  the  title 
"  Augustus."  ^  This  imperial  name,  meaning  august  or  revered, 
was  rendered  in  the  Greek  Sebastos,  ^  and  was  a  title  afterwards 
conferred  upon  his  successors  as  a  matter  of  heredity.^  Some- 
times in  history  he  is  called  Octavius.  He  possessed  superior 
judgment  and  tact  in  the  management  of  public  affairs,  and 
died  A.  D.  14,  much  honored  and  beloved. 

The  history  of  this  great  emperor  comes  in  touch  with 
sacred  history  by  reason  of  his  decree  causing  a  registration  of 
the  population  to  be  made  in  Judaea  at  the  time  of  the  nativity 
of  Christ.  Luke  in  his  Gospel  refers  to  him  thus:  '■'■Now  it 
came  to  pass  in  those  days,  there  went  out  a  decree  from  Ccusar 
A  urjustus  that  all  the  world  should  he  enrolled. " ^    It  is  a  re- 


'^  S€/3a(7T6c,  (  "-4MsrMsius"),  a  title  applied  twice  to  Nero  IntheN.T. ;  viz.,  In 
Acts  XXV,  21,  26. 

'Suetonius,  ^MflfMs(MS,  7.  ^ lb.  Tiberius,  2f>.  ^ Luke  11, 1. 


Roman  Rolers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       419 


markable  circumstance  that  this  decree  and  the  registration 
which  it  ordered  brought  to  pass  at  Bethlehem,  accordant  with 
ancient  prophecy,  the  birth  of  Jesus ;  for  Joseph  and  Mary  were 
required  to  go  to  Judaea,  their  own  tribal  territory,  for  registra- 
tion, according  to  the  Jewish  method  of  enrollment. 

2.  Tiberius  was  the  second  Emperor  of  the  Romans.  About 
two  years  before  the  death  of  Caesar  Augustus  he  associated 
with  himself  his  friend  Tiberius,  with  a  view  to  his  becoming  his 
successor  to  the  crown.  Accordingly,  Tiberius  was  reigning 
when  the  Baptist  was  preaching  in  the  wilderness,  and  also  dur- 
ing the  ministry  of  Jesus.  Three  allusions  are  made  to  this 
emperor  in  the  historical  New  Testament.  In  the  one  instance 
he  is  mentioned  by  name,  in  the  others  by  title.  In  fixing  the 
date  of  John's  ministry  Luke  says :  "  Now  in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar  .  .  .  the  word  of  the  Lord 
came  unto  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias,  in  the  wilderness."®  In 
the  second  instance,  Christ's  enemies  asked  him :  "  Is  it  lawful 
for  us  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not? " '  And  the  third  allusion 
to  Tiberius  was  when  Jesus  was  before  Pilate,  and  the  Jews 
shouted :  "  If  thou  release  this  man,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend ; 
every  one  that  maketh  himself  king  speaketh  against  Caesar."  ^ 
Thus  near  the  beginning  and  middle,  and  at  the  end  of  Christ's 
ministry,  a  reference  is  recorded  to  this  Emperor  Tiberius. 

3.  Caius  Caligula,  the  third  emperor,  is  not  mentioned  or 
alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament.  Secular  history,  however, 
is  replete  with  the  narrative  of  his  foul,  despotic,  desperate 
deeds.  He  insisted  upon  having  his  own  statue  set  up  in  the 
temple  grounds  of  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  that  they  should  be 
compelled  to  accord  him  divine  honors.  In  A.  D.  41,  says 
Josephus,  Caligula 

"  Asserted  his  own  divinity  and  insisted  on  greater  honors  to  be  paid 
him  by  his  subjects  than  are  due  to  mankind,  .  .  .  and  had  the  bold- 
ness to  call  himself  the  brother  of  Jupiter." ^  "He  gave  orders  [to 
Vitellius,  president  of  Syria]  to  make  an  invasion  of  Judsea  with  a  great 

•Luke  111,  1,  2.  TMatt.  xxll,  17;  Luke  xxlll,  2.  «John  xix,  12. 

*  Antiquities,  xlx,  1, 1;  xvlU,  8, 1,  2;  comp.  xvlU,  8,  2,  7. 


420         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

body  of  troops,  and  if  they  would  admit  his  statue  willingly,  to  erect  it 
in  the  temple  of  God ;  but  if  they  were  obstinate,  to  conquer  them  by 
war,  and  then  do  it."^" 

The  emperor,  however,  was  finally  dissuaded  from  his  pur- 
pose by  the  influence  of  his  special  friend,  Herod  Agrippa  I, 
who  was  a  zealous  Jew. "    Caligula  died  by  assassination.  ^ 

4.  Claudius,  the  fourth  and  "  feeble-minded  "  emperor,  was 
fifty  years  old  when  he  ascended  the  throne  of  Rome.  He 
succeeded  to  the  imperial  ofiice  through  the  personal  influence 
of  Herod  Agrippa  I,  who  was  the  first  to  nominate  him  to  the 
Eoman  Senate.  It  proved,  however,  that  the  emperor  was 
governed  by  his  f reedmen.     Suetonius  says : 

"  Among  his  f reedmen  the  greatest  favorite  was  the  eunuch  Posides  ; 
.  .  .  next  tohim,  ifnot  equal  in  favor,  was  Felix,"  who  is  mentioned 
in  Acts  xxiii  and  xxiv.^' 

Luke  represents  that  Claudius  became  emperor  at  the  time 
when  Paul  and  Silas  were  making  the  second  apostolic  journey 
in  Asia  Minor  and  along  Eastern  Europe.  This  Evangelist 
refers  twice  to  this  emperor,  and  each  reference  has  its  historic 
interest.  The  first  relates  to  the  prediction  of  a  great  fam- 
ine; the  second  to  a  certain  edict  of  Claudius  expelling  the 
Jews  indiscriminately  from  the  Capital. 

a)  The  Fami7ie.  Agabus,  a  Christian  prophet  journeying 
from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  "signified  by  the  Spirit  that  there 
should  be  a  great  famine  over  all  the  world,  which  came  to 
pass  in  the  days  of  Claudius.""  It  is  not  particularly  impor- 
tant to  the  historicity  of  the  fact  or  the  argument  based  upon 
it  whether  this  famine  predicted  was  local  or  universal; 
whether  the  words  rendered  "over  all  the  world "^^  be  taken 
in  the  extensive,  or  the  restricted  sense  according  to  the  usus 
of  the  Jews  in  Jud£ea;  for  it  is  clear  that  the  Greeks  also 
restricted  this  universal  term  to  the  Greek  world,  the  Romans 

10  Antiquities,  xvlll,  8,  2.  »  lb.  xvlil,  8,  7,  8.  '«  Suetonius,   Calig.,  58. 

>'/6.,  Claud.  28;  comp.  Tacitus,  Annals,  xll,  54;  and  Joseph.  ^n<.  xx,  7,  1; 
Wars,  11, 12,  8. 

"Acts  xl,  28.  ^^'EffeffOai   i<p'   6\tjv  tt^v  olKovfjL^vrjv. 


EoMAN  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       421 


to  the  Roman  world,  and  the  Jews  to  the  land  of  Palestine. 
In  philological  study  it  is  of  paramount  importance  that  we 
apprehend  the  exact  thought  of  the  author.  It  is  safe  to  assume 
that  the  term  was  employed  in  the  restricted  sense;  for  how 
could  the  brethren  of  Antioch  have  the  "  ability  "^^  to  send 
relief  to  provision  those  at  Jerusalem  if  they  at  Antioch  were 
to  be  in  the  same  strait?  Nevertheless,  a  universal  famine 
would  harmonize  all  the  historians  on  this  subject,  and  meet 
the  demands  of  the  text  in  the  most  extensive  sense.  That 
the  famine  predicted  by  Agabus  actually  came  to  pass,  is  his- 
torically certain.     We  have  not  far  to  go  for  proof. 

Tacitus  records : 

"A  failure  in  the  crops  and  famine  consequent  thereupon  was  re- 
garded as  a  prodigy.  Nor  were  the  complaints  of  the  populace  con- 
fined to  murmurs ;  they  even  gathered  round  the  prince  [Claudius] 
with  tumultuous  clamors  while  administering  justice,  and  driving  him 
to  the  extreme  of  the  forum,  pressed  upon  him  in  a  violent  manner; 
till  at  length,  by  means  of  a  compact  body  of  soldiers,  he  forced  his  way 
through  the  incensed  multitude.  It  is  certain  that  there  was  then  in 
Kome  provision  for  only  fifteen  days."  " 

Josephus  states : 

"Under  these  procurators  [Ouspius  Fadus  and  Tiberius  Alexander] 
the  great  famine  happened  in  Judsea."  **  "A  little  before  the  beginning  of 
this  war,  when  Claudius  was  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  and  Ishmael  was 
our  high  priest,  and  when  so  great  a  famine  was  come  upon  us,"^^  etc, 

Eusebius  adds: 

"  Caius  .  .  .  was  succeeded  by  Claudius  in  the  sovereignty  of 
the  empire.  In  his  reign  there  was  a  famine  that  prevailed  over  the 
whole  world ;  an  event,  indeed,  which  has  been  handed  down  by  histo- 
rians [who]  were  very  far  from  our  doctrine ;  and  by  which  the  predic- 
tion of  the  Prophet  Agabus  respecting  the  impending  famine  over  the 
whole  world  received  its  fulfillment." ^^ 

Orosius  places  this  famine,  so  distressing  in  Syria,  in  the 
fourth  year  of  Claudius. 

»«  Acts  xi,  29,  30.  ^T Annals,  xll,  48. 

^oAnt.  XX,  5,  2;  Fadus  ruled  44-46;  Alex.  46-48.  ^^Ant.  Ill,  15,  8. 

i^EccL  Hist.  11,  c.  8. 


422         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

From  the  foregoing  history  the  following  facts  become 
evident,  and  confirmatory  of  the  prediction  of  Agabus,  and  the 
statement  of  Luke ;  namely,  that — 

1.  The  prediction  uttered  by  Agabus  and  recorded  by  Luke 

occurred  about  the  year  44. 

2.  Josephus  places  a  sore  famine  during  the  procuratorships 

of  Fadus  and  Alexander. 

3.  Fadus  came  into  office  in  Judasa  after  the  death  of  Agrippa  I, 

near  the  close  of  44. 

4.  Orosius  says  the  Syrian  famine  occurred  in  the  fourth  year 

of  Claudius  Caesar. 

5.  The  great  famine  certified  by  many  historians,  verifies  the 

statement  of  Luke. 

/8)  The  Expulsion.     The  second  reference  by  Luke  to  the 

Emperor  Claudius  was  occasioned   by  the  meeting  of   Paul 

with  Aquila  and  his  wife  Priscilla  at  Corinth,  who,  though 

Jewish  Christians,  had  been  banished  from  Eome  by  the  edict 

of  Caesar.     It  was  about  the  year  52  when  Paul 

"  Departed  from  Athens  and  came  to  Corinth.  And  he  found  a  cer- 
tain Jew  named  Aquila,  a  man  of  Pontus  by  race,  lately  come  from  Italy 
with  his  wife  Priscilla,  because  Claudius  had  commanded  all  the  Jews 
to  depart  from  Rome."  ^^ 

Suetonius  mentions  the  fact  and  the  immediate  occasion 

for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  the  Capital.     He  says  of 

Claudius : 

"  He  banished  the  Jews  from  Rome,  who  were  continually  making 
disturbances,  Christ  being  their  leader." ^^  "He  ordered  that  those 
who  were  banished  from  any  province  by  the  chief  magisti-ate  should  be 
debarred  from  coming  into  the  city  or  any  part  of  Italy."  ^  Tacitus, 
however,  in  speaking  of  Claudius  says:  "For  expelling  the  astrologers 
[miracle-workers?]  from  Italy,  a  decree  of  the  Senate  was  passed, 
severe  but  powerless."^ 

Orosius  places  this  edict  in  the  ninth  year  of  Claudius, 
which  would  correspond  with  A.  D.  49  or  50.^ 

Unquestionably,  there  were  sharp  disputations  which  arose 

"Acts  xvlil,  1,  2.       «  Claud.  25.       ^Ib.  23.       ^^Annali.  xU,  52.        ^Hist.  vll.  6. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       428 

between  the  Jewish  Christians  and  the  Jews  of  the  old  faith, 
about  the  keeping  of  the  rabbinical  law  and  about  the  accepted 
Messiah,  Christ.  But  this  discrimination  between  Jews  seems 
not  to  have  been  made  as  yet  at  Rome.  They  were  all  ex- 
pelled together  as  Jews,  as  a  race,  and  not  with  respect  to 
their  religion.  Nevertheless,  Tacitus  aptly  characterizes  these 
decrees  as  "severe  but  powerless."  They  were  usually  soon 
canceled,  or  not  carried  out.  That  Luke's  reference  to  the 
expulsion  is  strictly  historical,  is  made  evident  by  the  records 
of  several  independent  and  secular  historians. 

5.  Nero  was  the  fifth,  and  was  the  last,  as  he  was  the 
worst,  of  all  the  Caesars.^  He  was  born  in  A.  D.  37,^  lost  his 
father  when  three  years  of  age,^  was  adopted  at  eleven  by 
Claudius,^  and  succeeded  to  the  imperial  purple  when  but 
seventeen  years  old.^  For  his  education  he  was  placed  under 
the  instruction  of  the  famous  philosopher  and  statesman, 
Lucius  Annaeus  Seneca.^  His  reign  began  well,  but  in  a  few 
years  his  character  began  to  disclose  itself  in  a  course  of  un- 
mitigated atrocities  which  he  committed  against  the  Capital, 
the  senators,  and  the  Christians  and  people.     Tacitus  says : 

"While  tranquillity  reigned  abroad,  abominable  licentiousness  was 
exhibited  at  Rome  in  the  person  of  Nero."^^  "A  rumor  had  become 
universally  current  at  that  very  time,  when  the  city  was  in  flames,  of 
Nero  going  on  the  stage  of  his  private  theater,  and  singing  The  Destruc- 
tion of  Troy,  assimilating  the  present  disaster  to  that  catastrophe  of 
ancient  times." ^ 

But  the  infamies  of  Nero  multiplied  constantly,  until  at 
length  the  Senate  openly  declared  him  to  be  the  enemy  of  the 
empire,^  and  the  soldiery  pursued  him  to  the  country  as  a 
refugee  from  justice,  only  to  overtake  him  a  wreck  and  a 
wretched  suicide.^  He  died  on  July  11,  A.  D.  68.  History 
fully  verifies  the  sentence  of  Gibbon,  who  consigned  the  last 
four  Caesars  to  "everlasting  infamy."^ 

»«Sueton.  Nero,  6,  and  p.  385;  Vit.  Oalb.  I,  "Sueton.  lb.  6.  ^Ib.  Nero,  6, 

« lb.  Nero,  7.  «>Ib.  Nero,%.  "^  rb.  Nero,7,  52.  ^Annals,  xiii,  26. 

•3/6.  XV,  38,  39;  Sueton.  iVero,  88.  »*Sueton.  Nero,  49. 

»8ueton.  Nero,  49;  Tacit.  Hist.  1,  4.       ^Decline  and  Fall,  1,  c.  3,  p.  181. 


424         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  the  New  Testament  several  allusions  are  made  to  Nero, 
not  by  personal  name,  but  by  the  imperial  title  "Caesar"  or 
"Augustus."*  The  Apostle  Paul  refers  to  him  at  least  four 
times;  thrice  at  Caesarea,  when  he  said,  "I  appeal  unto 
Caesar,"^  and  once  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  when 
sending  his  special  salutations  "to  any  of  the  household  of 
Caesar."^  Besides,  there  are  four  references  made  to  this 
emperor  by  the  Procurator  Festus  under  the  title  of  Caesar  or 
Augustus ;  and  also  once  by  King  Agrippa  II  at  Caesarea,  as 
recorded  by  Luke.f 

In  the  statement  then  of  what  facts  have  these  apostolic 
writings  been  vindicated  as  strictly  historical  by  the  citations  of 
other  authorites?     The  main  facts  may  be  summarized  thus: 

1.  The  imperial  decree  of  Augustus  Caesar  for  enrollment, 

dates  the  nativity  of  Jesus. 

2.  The  date  of  the  Baptist's  ministry,  heralding  in  that   of 

Christ,  gives  its  chronology. 

3.  The  conversation  of  Jesus  with  the  Jews  about  the   tribute 

money  as  lawfully  Caesar's. 

4.  The  accusation  against  Jesus  that  claiming  to  be  a  king 

was  speaking  against  Caesar. 

5.  The  prediction  of   Agabus  of  the  famine  realized  in  the 

fourth  year  of  Claudius's  reign. 

6.  The  expulsion  from  the  Capital  City  of  all  Jews  by  reason 

of  continual  disputations. 

7.  The  one  reference  made  by  King  Agrippa  II  to  Nero  as 

being  then  the  reigning  "Caesar." 

8.  The  four  references  to  Nero   as  the  emperor  made   also 

by  the  Roman  procurator,  Festus. 
Here,  then,  are  eight  facts  recorded  by  sacred  writers  re- 
specting  emperors  and   events   touching   twenty-one   special 

*  "  Augustus  "  descended  as  an  Imperial  title  to  all  the  Caesars  from  the  first 
Roman  Emperor,  but  some  relinquished  the  title. 
+  See  Acts  xxv,  12,  twice,  21,  25;  and  xxvl,  32. 
3^  Acts  xxv,  8, 10,  11.  ^Epia.  to  Philipp.  Iv,  22. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       425 

points  which  have  confirmation  from  secular  historians  whose 
writings  cover  tlie  same  period.  All  the  facts  fit  in  exactly 
in  the  proper  order  and  chronology  respecting  the  Roman 
rulers  and  their  reign,  as  also  the  references  to  current  events. 
Are  all  these  facts,  personages,  and  references  alike  fictitious 
and  unhistorical  ?  If  anything  can  be  proved  by  historical 
evidence  to  a  reasonable  mind,  the  conviction  becomes  resist- 
less, and  there  can  be  but  one  answer  to  the  question. 
Further,  it  is  just  as  evidential  and  obvious  that  these  writ- 
ers— sacred  and  profane,  the  one  class  as  much  as  the  other — 
wrote  in  those  times  within  lohich  they  purport  to  have  written. 
Such  evidence  can  not  be  set  aside  lightly,  but  is  entitled  to, 
and  demands,  as  complete  an  explanation  for  our  belief  as  is 
here  given  on  the  part  of  him  who  rejects  the  proof  adduced 
and  its  induction — a  reason^  not  mere  assertion,  not  a  specula- 
tion based  on  hypothesis  or  conjecture,  but  based  on  real  his- 
torical grounds. 

§  290.  II.    Legate. 

This  officer  was  a  civil  functionary  sent  out  from  Rome  by 
the  emperor  to  govern  a  Roman  province,  and  held  office  from 
three  to  five  years.  Quirinius  was  appointed  twice  to  this 
office  in  Judaea  for  the  purpose  of  making  enrollments  of  the 
Jewish  nation  in  the  interests  of  the  empire.  In  the  first  in- 
stance he  numbered  the  population;  in  the  second,  he  regis- 
tered the  valuation  of  property.  The  Evangelist  Luke  records 
a  note  of  both  registrations.  Of  the  first,  a  census  associated 
with  the  birth  of  Christ,  he  says:  "This  was  the  first  enroll- 
ment made  by  Quirinius"  in  distinction  from  the  second  one 
mentioned  by  Gamaliel :  "  that  there  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee 
in  the  days  of  the  enrollment."  The  first  enrollment  occurred 
B.  C.  4,  and  the  second  A.  D.  10.^  In  the  latter  Quiriniois 
is  said  to  have  been  Commissioner  Extraordinary. 

NLuke  li,  2;  Acts  v,  37. 


426         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 

§291.  III.  Procurators. 

A  procurator^  was  a  military  ruler  having  charge  of  the 
imperial  revenues,  under  the  appointment  of  the  emperor,  with 
a  life- tenure,  unless  recalled  for  cause.  In  rank  the  office  was 
considered  to  be  inferior  to  that  of  the  proconsul  and  prefect. 
In  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  in  the  writings  of  Josephus, 
this  officer  is  designated  by  the  less  strict  and  more  generic 
title  of  "  governor  ;"^^  a  term  also  sometimes  applied  to  a  pro- 
consul. The  procurator  was  invested  with  the  authority  to 
inflict  capital  punishment  upon  criminals ;  but  for  such  inflic- 
tion he  was  required  to  report  the  fact  to  the  emperor  at 
Eome,  together  with  the  circumstances]  which  led  up  to  the 
execution.* 

The  procurators  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  are 
three  in  number ;  namely,  Pontius  Pilate,  A.  D.  26-36;  An- 
tonius  Claudius  Felix,  52-60;  and  Portius  Festus,  60-62. 
These  may  be  taken  in  the  order  of  their  official  succession  in 
the  government  of  the  province  of  Judaea.  Any  special  cir- 
cumstances occurring  under  their  respective  administrations 
will  furnish  subjects  for  critical  consideration,  and  when 
found  to  be  authentic,  will  illustrate  the  historicity  and  the 
spirit  of  those  times. 

I.  Pontius  Pilate. 

In  ascertaining  points  of  accordancy  between  sacred  and 
secular  history,  relating  to  this  procurator,  attention  should 
be  fixed  upon  three  propositions  to  be  verified ;  and  of  these — 

*  Euseblus  says:  "That  nothing  might  escape  him  [the  emperor],  Pontius 
Pilate  transmits  to  Tiberius  an  account  of  the  circumstances  concerning  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  the  report  of  which  had  already  spread 
throughout  all  Palestine."  (E.  H.,  B.  11,  c.  2,  p.  89.)  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  first  Apology 
appeals  twice  to  these  transmitted  reports  as  then  at  Rome.  He  says:  "That 
these  things  did  happen,  you  can  ascertain  from  the  Acts  of  Pontius  Pilait';'''' 
"And  that  he  [Jesus]  did  those  things  you  can  learn  from  the  Acts  of  Pontius  Pi- 
late." (First  Apol.  cc.  35,48.)  Tertullian  adds:  "All  these  things  Pilate  did  to 
Christ;  and  now,  In  fact,  a  Christian  In  his  convictions,  he  sent  word  of  him  to 
the  reigning  Ocesar,  who  was  at  that  time  Tiberius."  (Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol. 
Ill,  c.  21,  p.  85.) 

*>  ijyembv,  6.  <>  Inexactly    iiriTpoiroc=  ijytfj.dv    In  the  N.  T.  which  is 

also  a  generic  term  for  the  oflBce. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       427 


§  292.  1 .  The  Procuratorship  in  Judeea  in  the  Time  of  Christ  as  an  Histor- 
ical Fact. 

The  historical  New  Testament  makes  several  distinct 
affirmations  relating  to  his  government  of  the  Jews,  viz. : 

"Now  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius 
Pilate  being  governor  of  Judaea,  and  Herod  [Antipas]  being  tetrarch  of 
Galilee,  and  his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of  Itrurtea  and  the  region  of 
Ti-achonitis,  and  Lysanias  the  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  Annas  and  Caiaphas 
being  the  high  priests  [of  the  Jews],  the  word  of  God  came  unto 
John  [the  Baptist]."^ 

"Now  when  morning  was  come,  all  the  chief  priests  and  elders  of 
the  people  took  counsel  against  Jesus  to  put  him  to  death ;  and  they 
bound  him  and  led  him  away,  and  delivered  him  to  Pontius  Pilate  the 
governor."  ^ 

"For  of  a  truth  in  this  city,  against  thy  Holy  Servant  Jesus,  whom 
thou  didst  anoint,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and 
the  peoples  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together."** 


So  far,  three  Evangelists  witness  separately,  and  all  the 
apostles  witness  together  in  prayer.  Luke's  statement  is  very 
remarkable  for  the  web  of  circumstances  which  he  weaves  to- 
gether in  one  brief  paragraph,  to  authenticate  historically  the 
beginning  of  John's  ministry.  Seven  officers  are  named; 
each  one  is  mentioned  as  a  ruler  of  a  given  country;  each 
country  is  designated  correctly  respecting  its  ruler, — the  Ro- 
mans in  relation  to  their  territories ;  the  high  priests  in  rela- 
tion to  their  people.  This  extraordinary  mention  of  concurring 
governments,  all  brought  to  view  in  one  sentence  to  establish 
a  single  circumstance,  is  calculated  to  emphasize  the  fact  con- 
veyed as  very  important.  Every  particular  brought  forward 
exposes  the  Evangelist  to  a  critical  testing  respecting  its 
historical  character,  and  if  one  should  be  found  to  be  untrue, 
that  fact  would  certainly  impeach  his  record  so  far,  and  raise 
a  presumption  against  the  other  particulars  as  questionable. 
Now,  it  should  be  accentuated  that  no  writer  would  adven- 
ture to  give  all  these  details  unless  he  knew  them  to  be  his- 

«Luke  ill,  1,  2.  «Matt.  xxvU,  1;  Mark  xv,  1.  «Acts  Iv,  27. 


428         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

torical  and  that  they  would  bear  a  critical  examination  by  his 
contemporaries,  and  certainly  no  mythical  or  legendary  writer 
could  serve  his  purpose  by  descending  to  many  details  to 
substantiate  a  single  fact  by  citing  many ;  for  that  is  the  very 
opposite  of  the  mythical  spirit.  It  greatly  accentuates  the 
character  of  Luke  as  a  critical  historian  that  not  one  of  these 
particulars  has  ever  been  questioned  by  a  reputable  writer, 
ancient  or  modern. 

Among  these  particularizations  it  is  stated  that  "Pontius 
Pilate  was  governor  of  Judaea"  at  the  very  time  when  John 
began  his  ministry.  Matthew  also  makes  reference  to  "Pon- 
tius Pilate  the  governor;"  and  Mark  does  not  mention  the 
office  as  such,  but  assumes  its  existence  as  understood,  and 
then  proceeds  to  relate  many  remarkable  acts  which  the  pro- 
curator performed  as  an  officer  of  the  Romans.  When  the 
apostles  were  dismissed  from  trial  before  the  Sanhedrin,  they 
met  and  reported  to  the  other  Christians  all  that  had  occurred ; 
and  then  they  voiced  in  prayer  to  God  the  fact,  but  connected 
the  name  "Herod"  Antipas  with  that  of  "Pontius  Pilate,"  of 
having  something  in  common  in  the  procedure  against  Jesus 
prior  to  his  crucifixion. 

Pilate's  procuratorship  is  abundantly  corroborated  by  both 
classic  and  Jewish  historians.  An  appeal  to  the  writers  of  the 
first  and  second  century  will  be  satisfactory.  Tacitus  records 
in  a  single  sentence  that  which  is  conclusive  on  this  point.  It 
should  be  noted  that  he  designates  the  several  historical  cir- 
cumstances of  time,  place,  and  persons  associated  with  two 
facts  of  paramount  importance  in  this  investigation;  and  all 
are  related  to  the  administration  of  Pilate,  exactly  as  repre- 
sented by  the  several  Evangelists.     He  says : 

"  Christ,  the  Founder  of  this  name  [Christians],  was  put  to  death  as 
a  criminal  by  Pontius  Pilate,  pi'ocurator  of  Judsea,  in  the  reign  of  Tibe- 
rius."** Josephus  records  that  Tiberius  "sent  in"  as  procurator  of 
Judsea,  "  Gratus  and  his  successor  in  the  government,  Pilate."  ^    "When 

*^An7ials,  XV,  44.  «,4n«.  lib.  xvlil,  c.  6,  $5. 


Roman  IIulp:bs  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       429 

Gratus  had  done  these  things  he  went  back  to  Rome,  after  he  had  tar- 
ried in  Judaea  eleven  years,  when  Pontius  Pilate  came  as  his  suc- 
cessor."^^ "But  now  Pilate,  the  procurator  of  Judaea,  removed  the 
army  from  Csesarea  to  Jerusalem."'*® 

Here  are  two  historians  of  reputation — the  one  a  heathen 
residing  at  Rome,  the  other  a  Jew  dwelling  in  Palestine,  con- 
temporaries of  each  other,  mutually  confirming  themselves,  as 
well  as  the  Evangelists,  on  the  historicity  of  the  statement 
that  Pontius  Pilate  was  procurator  of  Judaea  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius  Caesar. 

§293.    2.  Prominent  Occurrences  under  Pilate's  Ruling  as  Narrated  in  the 
Gospels. 

The  points  to  be  accentuated  in  the  Evangelistic  narrative 
are  these : 

a)  The  presence  of  the  procurator  at  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Jews'  great  feast-days,  and  the  special  reason  therefor. 

b)  The  importance  of  the  "  tessellated  pavement,"  incidentally  men- 
tioned, and  its  importance  in  the  Roman  administration  of  justice. 

c)  The  presence  of  Pilate's  wife  at  Jerusalem,  at  the  trial  of  Jesus, 
contrary  to  the  earlier  requirements  of  the  empire. 

It  was  the  established  custom  of  the  procurator  of  Judaea, 
whose  headquarters  were  regularly  at  Caesarea,  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  the  high  festivals  of  the  Jews  in  order  to  prevent 
any  disorder  or  tumult  among  the  people.  It  is  an  unseemly 
reflection  on  the  Jews  that  it  was  requisite  for  heathen  rulers 
to  keep  the  peace  when  the  Jews  assembled  together  to  ob- 
serve their  own  great  annual  and  religious  feasts.  Josephus 
relates  how  a  gang  of  ruffians  known  as  the  sicarti,  so  called 
from  the  daggers  which  they  carried  on  their  persons,  were 
accustomed  on  those  occasions  to  carry  on  assassination  and 
plunder  "  in  the  midst  of  the  city ;  this  they  did  chiefly  at  the 
festivals  when  they  mingled  among  the  multitude,  and  con- 
cealed daggers  under  their  garments  with  which  they  stabbed 
those  who  were  their  enemies."  ^^ 

«  Ant.  xvlil,  2.  2.  «  7  6.  xvlil.  8,  1. 

49Coinp.  Ant.  xx,  5,  3;  xx,  9,3;  xx,  8,  5,  6;  Wars,  ii,  12, 1;  11,  18,  8. 


430         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

It  was  in  accordance  with  this  purpose  to  exercise  author- 
ity, if  there  should  be  occasion,  that  Pilate  was  present  at  the 
Jews'  passover  at  Jerusalem  at  the  time  when  Jesus  was  cruci- 
fied. For  his  official  residence  on  these  occasions,  he  took  the 
palace  of  Herod  the  Great.  To  the  courts  of  this  royal  resi- 
dence the  officers  of  the  Jews  conducted  the  Savior,  after  they 
had  formally  denounced  him  for  blasphemy;  but  their  cere- 
monial scrupulousness  about  defiling  themselves  as  Jews  ex- 
cluded them  from  entrance  into  the  palace  to  Pilate's  presence, 
lest  they  should  prohibit  themselves  from  eating  the  passover. 

"They  lead  Jesus  therefore  from  Caiaphas  into  the  palace  [prseto- 
rium]  ;  and  it  was  early  in  the  morning,  and  they  entered  not  into  the 
palace  that  they  might  not  be  defiled,  but  might  eat  the  passover. 
Pilate  therefore  went  out  to  them."^" 

When  the  trial  of  Jesus  had  reached  its  crisis,  Pilate  pro- 
posed to  execute  Barabbas,  and  release  Jesus.  To  receive 
their  response  to  the  proposal  in  a  judicial  manner,  Pilate  as- 
cended the  Bema,  which  was  a  tribunal  erected  before  the 
palace,  on  an  elevated  piece  of  ground  covered  with  a  tessellated 
pavement.  John  relates  that  "  when  Pilate  heard  these  words, 
he  brought  Jesus  out,  and  sat  down  on  the  judgment  seat  at 
a  place  called  the  Pavement,  but  in  the  Hebrew  Gabbatha."  ^ 

Now,  the  importance  of  the  tessellated  pavement  in  judicial 
procedures  is  remarked  by  both  Eoman  and  Jewish  authorities. 
Suetonius  mentions  an  instance  in  point  in  the  case  of  Julius 
Caesar,  who  "  carried  about  in  his  expeditions  tessellated  and 
marble  slabs  for  the  floor  of  his  tent."^  And  also  Josephus 
mentions  this  usage  in  connection  with  Herod  Philip  the  te- 
trarch,  as  follows: 

"  His  tribunal  on  which  he  sat  in  judgment  followed  him  on  his  prog- 
ress ;  and  when  any  one  met  him  who  wanted  his  assistance,  he  made 
no  delay,  but  had  his  tribunal  set  down  immediately  wheresoever  he 
happened  to  be,  and  sat  down  upon  it,  and  heard  his  complaint ;  he  then 
ordered  the  guilty  that  were  convicted  to  be  punished,  and  absolved 
those  that  had  been  accused  unjustly."^ 

w  John  xvlU,  28,  29.  "jb.  xlx,  13.  ^»Jul.  Cces.  46.  ^^Ant.  xvlll,  4,  6. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       431 

Accordingly  Matthew,  referring  to  the  occasion  of  Christ's 
trial  narrates  that  Pilate — 

"  While  he  was  sitting  on  the  judgment-seat,  his  wife*  sent  unto  him 
saying,  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  righteous  Man,  for  I  have 
suffered  many  things  this  day  in  a  dream  because  of  him."^^ 

According  to  Seneca,  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  empire, 
Augustus^  was  very  strenuous  in  his  policy  requiring  that 
magistrates,  going  to  imperial  provinces  to  govern,  should  not 
be  accompanied  by  their  wives — only  allowing  rare  exceptions. 
In  his  biography  of  Augustus,  Suetonius  confirms  the  state- 
ment, restricting  the  exceptions  to  very  peculiar  circumstances. 
Yet  as  Tacitus  writes,  "  How  often  did  the  deified  Augustus 
[himself]  travel  to  the  east,  how  often  to  the  west,  accompa- 
nied by  Livia!"^  Nevertheless,  Germanicus  in  Germany  felt 
constrained  to  send  away  his  own  wife,  that  she  might  not 
"be  exposed  among  the  soldiers,  infuriated  and  violators  of 
everything  held  sacred  by  man."  Of  this  fact,  Tacitus  sym- 
pathetically remarks:  "The  wife  of  a  great  commander  com- 
pelled to  be  a  fugitive,  and  bearing  an  infant  son  in  her 
bosom  !"^'' 

Tacitus  also  relates  that  in  the  time  of  Tiberius,  and  in  the 
year  21,  one  Caecina  Severus  moved  in  the  Roman  Senate  that 
"  No  magistrate  should  go  into  any  province  accompanied  by 
his  wife."  ^  But  his  proposition  was  promptly  met  with  elo- 
quence and  urgent  opposition,  and  was  rejected  finally  with  no 
little  indignation.  This  disposition  of  the  question  settled  the 
future  policy  of  the  government  on  that  point,  so  that  within 
five  years  Pilate  is  found  to  have  entered  upon  office  in  Judaea 
accompanied  hy  his  wife,  as  Matthew  states  without  explana- 
tion. It  thus  appears  how  that,  on  the  occasion  of  our  Lord's 
trial  before  the  procurator  a  few  years  later,  Pilate's  wife 
sent  her  husband  the  strange  and  startling  message :  "  Have 

*  Pilate's  wife's  name  was  Olauda  Procula  (Necepha,  Eccl.  1,  30). 
M  Matt,  xxvil,  19.  S5  De  Controv.  26. 

6«.4nnaJs,  Hi,  38,84.  67  16.1,40.  63/6.111,33. 

28 


432  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  righteous  Man!"  This  incident, 
of  so  exceptional  a  character,  interwoven  with  the  narrative  of 
Matthew,  without  mentioning  any  circumstance  leading  up  to 
the  incident,  without  explanation  why  Pilate's  wife  was  with 
him  at  Jerusalem,  conveys  the  implication  that  the  changed 
law  was  perfectly  understood  at  the  time,  and  incidentally 
attests  the  correctness  and  fidelity  of  the  Evangelist's  historical 
record. 

§  294.  3.  The  Discovery  of  Pilate's  Character  Accordant  with  Sacred  and 
Secular  History. 

1.  The  first  instance  illustrative  of  the  procurator's  charac- 
ter for  violence  and  vacillation  was  evidenced  in  his  interview 
when  Jesus  stood  before  his  tribunal  a  silent  prisoner,  charged 
with  high  crimes  in  an  indictment  by  the  Jews.  Pilate  ques- 
tioned Jesus  respecting  his  origin  and  his  claims  as  King.  It 
is  stated  that 

"He  entered  into  the  palace  again,  and  saith  unto  Jesus,  Whence  art 
thou?  But  Jesus  gave  him  no  answer.  Pilate  therefore  said  unto  Him: 
Speakest  thou  not  unto  me?  Knowest  thou  not  that  I  liave  power  to 
release  thee,  and  have  power  to  crucify  thee?  Jesus  answered  him :  Thou 
wouldst  have  no  power  against  me  except  it  were  given  thee  from  above  ; 
therefore  he  that  delivered  me  unto  thee  hath  the  greater  sin.  Upon 
this  Pilate  sought  to  release  him."  "When  Pilate  saw  that  he  prevailed 
nothing,  but  rather  that  a  tumult  was  arising,  he  took  water  and  washed 
his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying:  lam  innocent  of  the  blood  of 
this  Just  Person  ;  see  ye  to  it.  .  .  .  But  he  scourged  Jesus,  and  de- 
livered him  to  be  crucified  !"*^ 

On  another  occasion,  when  Pilate  undertook  to  force  upon 
the  unwilling  Jews  the  ensigns  of  Caesar,  he  evinced  the  same 
unworthy  characteristics.     Josephus  records  of  him: 

"Now  Pilate,  who  was  sent  as  procurator  into  Judaea  by  Tiberius, 
sent  by  night  those  images  of  Caesar  which  are  called  ensigns  into  Jeru- 
salem," which  occasioned  "very  great  tumult  among  the  Jews"  and  loud 
protests  "to  preserve  to  them  their  ancient  laws  inviolable."  "On  the 
next  day  Pilate  sat  on  his  tribunal  in  the  open  market-place,  and  called 
to  him  the  multitude  as  desiring  to  give  them  an  answer ;  and  then  gave 
a  signal  to  the  soldiers      ...     to  encompass   the  Jews   with  their 

69  John  xlx,8-12;  Matt.xxvii,  24,  25. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       433 

weapons ;  so  the  band  of  soldiers  stood  round  about  the  Jews  three  ranks 
[deep.]"  "Pilate  also  said  to  them  that  they  should  be  cut  to  pieces 
unless  they  would  admit  Caesar's  images,  and  gave  intimation  to  the 
soldiers  to  draw  their  naked  swords."  But  the  Jews,  casting  themselves 
upon  the  ground,  "exposed  their  necks  bare,  and  cried  out  that  they 
were  sooner  ready  to  be  slain  than  that  their  law  should  be  trans- 
gressed."*^ Upon  which  Pilate  was  deeply  affected  with  their  firm 
resolution  to  keep  their  laws  inviolable,  and  presently  commanded  the 
images  to  be  carried  back  from  Jerusalem  to  Ca?sarea.  ^^ 

Here  at  one  moment  is  the  threat  of  instant  death,  and  in 
the  next  the  offensive  order  is  conntermanded,  illustrating  that 
contradiction  of  character  which  always  accompanies  a  base 
and  weak  mind — making  such  an  issue  with  the  Jews  touching 
their  religion,  and  when  absolutely  resisted  unto  death,  order- 
ing the  detested  images  back  to  Csesarea.  Violence  and  vacil- 
lation in  the  presence  of  high  moral  courage  are  the  evidence 
of  a  moral  coward.  And  these  characteristics  were  evidenced 
when  Pilate,  in  the  presence  of  the  multitude,  meekly  washed 
his  hands  in  attestation  of  Christ's  innocency  which  he  had 
protested  again  and  again,  but  immediately  countermanded. 

2.  A  second  illustration  of  Pilate's  character  relates  to 
the  occasion  of  enmity,  and  then  amity,  between  himself  and 
Herod  Antipas.     Luke  relates : 

"  Now  there  were  some  present  at  that  very  season  who  told  him  of 
the  Galileans  whose  blood  Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices."  "And 
Herod  and  Pilate  became  friends  with  each  other  on  that  very  day ;  for 
before  they  were  at  enmity  between  themselves."  ^^ 

The  peculiarity  of  these  two  passages  of  Scripture  is,  that 
both  purport  to  be  narratives  of  historical  facts;  that  both 
stand  detached  from  any  other  written  history;  that  both 
were  written  by  the  same  writer;  and  that  both  are  recorded 
in  a  manner  which  indicates  the  facts  related  were  well  known 
and  unquestioned  in  the  community  where  they  are  said  to 
have  occurred.  Circumstantial  evidence  is  strongly  corrobo- 
rative of  these  citations  from  Luke.    Josephus  states  that  "after 

«o  Wars,  li,  9,  2,  .3.  «  Ant.  xvlil,  3,  1.  62  Luke  xlli,  1 ;  xxill,  12. 


434  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

this,  Pilate  raised  another  disturbance  by  expending  that  sa- 
cred treasury  which  is  called  Corban  upon  aqueducts.  .  .  . 
At  this  the  multitude  had  great  indignation."^  A  strong 
feeling  of  resentment  arose,  which  Pilate  sought  to  repress  in 
his  own  dark  way,  as  he  was  wont.  Soldiers  clad  in  the  gar- 
ments of  men  in  private  life  were  armed  with  concealed  weap- 
ons in  their  garments,  and  mingled  with  the  multitude.  He, 
himself,  gave  the  signal,  when  the  soldiers  fell  upon  the  people 
indiscriminately,  cruelly  causing  many  deaths, 

"And  equally  punished  those  that  were  tumultuous  and  those  that 
were  not."  "Now,  the  Jews  were  so  sorely  beaten  that  many  of  them 
perished  by  the  stripes  they  received ;  and  many  of  them  perished  as 
trodden  to  death  by  themselves,  by  which  means  the  multitude  was 
astonished  at  the  calamity  of  those  that  were  slain."** 

On  another  occasion  Pilate,  without  any  apparent  provoca- 
tion, ordered  his  soldiers  to  fall  on  the  Samaritans. 

"And  when  they  came  to  an  action,  some  of  them  they  slew,  and 
others  of  them  they  put  to  flight,  and  took  a  great  many  alive ;  the 
principal  [men]  of  whom,  and  also  the  most  potent  of  those  that  fled 
away,  Pilate  ordered  to  be  slain."  "The  Samaritan  Senate  sent  an 
embassy  to  Vitellius,  .  .  .  president  of  Syria,  and  accused  Pilate  of 
the  murder  of  those  that  were  killed.  .  .  .  So  Vitellius  sent  Marcel- 
lus,  a  friend  of  his,  to  take  care  of  the  affairs  of  Juda?a,  and  ordered 
Pilate  to  go  to  Rome  to  answer  before  the  emperor  to  the  accusation  of 
the  Jews;  .  .  .  but  before  he  could  get  to  Rome,  Tiberius  was 
dead."  6* 

A  case  in  strong  resemblance  to  the  procedure  of  Pilate 
against  the  Galileans  occurred  under  the  rule  of  the  ethnarch 
Herod  Archelaus,  who  dreaded  the  influence  of  "Judas  and 
Matthias,  those  teachers  of  the  law,"  upon  the  multitude  assem- 
bling for  the  keeping  of  the  Passover : 

"  Lest  some  ten-ible  thing  should  spring  up  by  means  of  these  men's 
madness,  [he]  sent  a  regiment  of  armed  men,  and  with  them  a  captain 
of  a  thousand,  to  suppress  the  violent  efforts  of  tlie  seditious,  before  the 
whole  multitude  should  be  infected  with  like  madness." 

M  TTars,  il,  0,  4.  "ylni.  xvlll,  3,  2;   Wars,  n, 9,  4,.  ^^  A?it.  xvili,  i,l,2, 


Roman  Ruleks  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       435 

The  Jews,  however,  assaulted  the  soldiers  so  that  the  cap- 
tain and  many  of  the  soldiers  fled,  and  when  they  "  had  done 
thus,  they  returned  to  the  sacrifices  which  were  already  in 
their  hands."  Thereupon  Archelaus  sent  the  whole  army 
upon  them  and  "slew  three  thousand  men."^ 

While  there  is  absolutely  nothing  recorded  in  opposition  to 
Luke's  record  of  the  report  made  by  others  to  Jesus  that  Pilate 
had  mingled  the  blood  of  the  Galileans  with  their  sacrifices, 
there  is  much  to  credit  the  statement  by  indirection.  If  there 
is  not  identity  in  the  facts  as  narrated  in  sacred  history,  there 
is  circumstantiality  enough  to  justify  the  belief  that  Pilate 
was  capable  of  just  such  a  deed,  in  that  liis  character  is  en- 
tirely accordant  wdth  the  representations  made.  The  follow- 
ing conclusions  may  therefore  be  legitimately  considered : 

1.  That  the  Jews  generally,  and  the  Galileans  particularly, 
were  restive  and  tumultuous  toward  the  Roman  procurators, 
especially  on  the  great  festival  occasions,  due  probably,  in  a 
large  measure,  to  the  cruel  injustice  which  they  had  suffered 
at  their  hands,  but  particularly  from  the  outrages  committed 
against  their  religion  by  these  political  and  heathen  rulers. 

2.  That  in  at  least  one  other  instance  under  Archelaus,  the 
Jews  left  their  own  altars  and  worship  and  drove  away  the 
soldiers,  "when  they  returned  to  the  sacrifices  which  were 
already  in  their  hands."  This  clears  the  way  and  creates  a 
measure  of  probability  in  favor  of  Luke's  record  of  the  report 
as  authentic,  inasmuch  as  the  same  affair  would  be  attempted 
again,  even  though  unsuccessfully,  as  in  the  case  of  those 
"  Galileans  whose  blood  Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices." 
Pilate  was  not  afraid  to  shed  the  blood  of  his  subjects,  pro- 
vided he  could  make  it  appear  at  Rome  that  he  was  suppress- 
ing an  uprising  of  the  people. 

3.  Those  Galileans  were  not  the  subjects  of  Pontius  Pilate, 
procurator  of  Judaea,  but  of  Herod  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Gal- 
ilee.    Accordingly,  any  violence  and   slaughter  of  Herod's 

«^n«.  xvil,  9,  3;  T^'ars,  ii,  2,  5. 


436         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

subjects  could  not  but  be  regarded  as  a  high-handed  outrage 
committed  upon  his  people,  but  also  was  a  deep  affront  offered 
to  his  government.  Herod's  principality  was  much  inferior 
to  Pilate's  province  in  extent,  in  resource,  and  in  population; 
and  as  recourse  to  war  was  not  allowable  without  the  imperial 
consent,  and  as  Pilate  had  robbed  Herod's  subjects  of  their 
share  in  the  sacred  votive  fund  called  Corban,  which  he  had 
wrongfully  appropriated  to  the  public  works  at  Jerusalem, 
these  were  just  the  kind  of  procedures  most  likely  to  engender 
"enmity"  between  these  two  neighboring  rulers  of  the  Jews. 
4.  But  if  there  was  occasion  for  enmity  between  them, 
there  was  also  an  occasion  for  amity.  Now,  it  happened  that 
Herod  was  at  the  passover  at  Jerusalem  when  Jesus  was  ac- 
cused by  the  Jews  before  Pilate.  When,  then,  Pilate  had 
learned  that  Jesus  belonged  to  that  tetrarchy,  he  at  once  sent 
Christ  to  Herod  as  the  proper  judge  of  the  case.  This  act  in 
the  procurator  was  doubly  pleasing  to  Herod:  (1)  Because  the 
action  was  an  open  acknowledgment  of  the  principle  that 
Herod's  subjects  were  subject  to  Herod  for  their  conduct,  and 
not  to  Pilate ;  and  (2)  Because  the  sending  of  such  a  personage 
as  Jesus  to  his  presence,  was  extremely  gratifying  in  itself, 
since, 

"  When  Herod  saw  Jesus,  he  was  exceedingly  glad  ;  for  he  was  de- 
sirous to  see  him  for  a  long  time ;  and  he  hoped  to  see  some  miracle 
done  by  him."  "And  Herod  and  Pilate  became  friends  with  each  other 
that  very  day  ;  for  before  they  were  at  enmity  between  themselves."  ^^ 

§  295.    II.  Antonius  Claudius  Felix. 

This  man  was  not  the  second  procurator  of  Juaaea,  out  he 
is  the  second  one  mentioned  in  the  Evangelistic  history.  And 
he  is  properly  placed  in  the  order  of  the  "governors"  of  that 
country.  He  is  named  Antonius  Felix  by  Tacitus,  and  is 
named  Claudius  by  Suidas,  but  is  mentioned  simply  as  Felix 
both  by  Luke  and  Josephus.  Originally,  Felix  was  a  slave  of 
Antonia,   the  daughter  of  Antony   and  Cleopatra,  and  the 

67  Luke  xxlll,  8,  12, 


Roman  Kulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       437 

mother  of  Emperor  Claudius.  He  assumed  the  name  Antonius 
because  he  was  the  slave  of  Antonia,  as  he  was  afterwards  of 
her  son  Claudius.  Subsequently  the  emperor  manumitted 
both  Felix  and  his  brother  Pallas,  both  of  whom  became  at- 
tached closely  to  the  person  of  the  emperor,  became  his  chief 
advisers,  and  in  fact,  in  a  large  sense,  controlled  the  action  of 
the  feeble-minded  chief  during  his  reign.^ 

As  procurator  of  the  Jews,  Felix  occupies  a  conspicuous 
place  in  three  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But  in 
every  case  his  name  is  mentioned  incidentally  in 

•  -11  •  ^    -i-^      1,  1        §296.  Histor- 

connection  with  the  narrative  oi  Pauls  work  icity  of  Felix's 
and  sufferings,  which  Luke  therein  has  made  the  P^curatorsWp. 
special  subjects  of  his  discourse.  The  first  occurrence  is  in  the 
order  issued  by  Claudius  Lysias,  the  military  commandant  of 
the  castle  Antonia  at  Jerusalem,  which  overlooked  the  temple 
and  its  courts.  This  order  provides  that  the  soldiers  under 
him  shall  "bring  him  [the  apostle]  safe  unto  Felix  the  gov. 
ernor,"  whose  residence  was  at  Caesarea-on-the-Sea ;  and  he 
wrote  a  letter  after  this  form :  "  Claudius  Lysias  unto  the  most 
excellent  governor  Felix,  greeting."  ^ 

Both  the  fact  and  the  time  of  Felix's  appointment  as  pro- 
curator of  Judaea  are  circumstances  well  attested  by  various 
independent  witnesses,  w^ho  are  even  more  explicit  in  statement 
than  was  Luke.  It  should  be  noticed,  however,  that  Felix  was 
twice  appointed  to  this  office  in  different  parts  of  Palestine; 
once  when  he  ruled  conjointly  with  Cumanus  in  the  govern, 
ment  of  Galilee,  Samaria,  and  Peraea ;  and  once  when  he  had 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  Judaea.  This  will  be  clearly  veri- 
fied by  the  following  testimonies : 

Tacitus  remarks:  "Felix  too,  meanwhile,  by  applying  unseasonable 
remedies,  inflamed   the  disaffection,  emulated  as   he  was  in  his  aban- 

*  Suetonius  says:  "Among  his  freedmen,  ...  if  not  equal  in  favoi-,  was 
Felix,  .  .  .  being  entirely  governed  by  these  freedmen."  (Claud.  28,  2^).)  Tac- 
itus adds:  "The  Jewish  kings  being  ei  her  dead,  or  their  dominion  reduced  to 
narrow  limits,  he  [Claudius]  committed  the  province  of  Judaea  to  Roman  knights 
or  to  his  freedmen.  One  of  these,  Antonius  Felix,  wielded  the  scepter  of  a  king 
with  the  soul  of  a  slave."    [Hist,  v,  9.) 

68 Acts  xxill,  24-26. 


438         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

doned  courses  by  Ventidius  Cumanus,  who  held  part  of  the  province ; 
the  division  being  such  that  Galilee  was  subject  to  Cumanus,  and  Sama- 
ria to  Felix. "^^  Josephus  says:  "After  this,  Csesar  sent  Felix,  the 
brother  of  Pallas,  to  be  procurator  of  Galilee  and  Samaria  and  Persea."^" 
As  respects  the  procuratorship  in  Judaea,  Josephus  adds:  "  Claudius 
sent  Felix,  the  brother  of  Pallas,  to  take  care  of  the  affairs  of  Judaea."  " 
And  Tacitus  says:  "  Felix,  for  some  time  governor  of  Judaea,  acted  not 
with  .  .  .  moderation,  but  relying  upon  such  powerful  protection 
[as  that  of  Pallas]  supposed  that  he  might  perpetrate  with  impunity 
every  kind  of  villainy." '^ 

In  addition  to  these  historical  attestations,  there  exists  an 
§  297.        evidence  incontestable  in  a  coin  struck  under  the 
Evidence,     authority  of  Felix,  which  is  thus  described : 

"Obverse:  a  palm  branch  with  the  legend,  'Of  Caesar,'  in'the  year  5 ; 
[i.  e.]  in  the  fifth  year  of  Nero's  reign  [Claudius's  successor],  and  there- 
fore struck  by  Felix  [  himself]  sometime  between  the  13th  of  October, 
A.  D.  53,  and  the  13th  of  October,  A.  D.  59.  Reverse:  the  legend, 
Nepwi/os,  'Of  Nero,' within  a  wreath."  ^^ 

Thomas  Lewin,  Esq.,  in  his  famous  work  on  Paul,  says : 

"Felix  was  certainly  appointed  in  A.  D.  52,  and  it  is  equally  clear 
that  Albinus  annved  in  the  province  as  successor  to  Festus  in  A.  D.  62. 
The  portion,  therefore,  of  this  interval  of  ten  years  not  occupied  by 
Festus  will  represent  the  procuratorship  of  Felix.  The  events  in  the 
time  of  Festus  were  few,  and  would  not  require  so  much  as  two  years. 
Festus  died  at  the  close  of  A.  D.  61,  and  as  prefects  left  Rome  for  the 
provinces  on  the  15th  of  April,  the  arrival  of  Festus  in  Judaea  as  suc- 
cessor to  Felix  may  be  placed  about  midsummer  A.  D.  60.  Thus  the 
procuratorship  of  Felix  lasted  from  A.  D.  52  to  60,  a  period  of  eight  years, 
a  tenure  of  office  unusually  long."^^ 

If,  now,  there  be  added  to  this  period  that  in  which  Felix 
was  procurator  in  Samaria,  there  is  ample  vindication  of  the 
truth  in  Paul's  courteous  remark:  "  Forasmuch  as  I  know  thou 
hast  been  of  many  years  a  judge  unto  this  nation,  I  do  cheer- 
fully make  my  defense."  ^^ 

The  material  points  substantiated  by  these  evidences  are 
these :  That  Felix  was  appointed  procurator  of  Judsea  as  a 
matter  of  historical  fact.     This  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of 

*^  Annals,  x\l,  5i.  ro  TTars,  11, 12,  8.  "^m<.  xx,7,  1.  «^nn.  xll,  64. 

'8  Lewln,  Life  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  Vol.  II,  p.  121.  74  jb,  u,  p.  170,  note  117, 

»  Acts  xxlv,  10. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       439 

both  Tacitus  and  Josephus,  from  both  the  Roman  and  Jewish 
side  of  history;  also  that  he  ruled  Judaea  from  the  years  52 
to  60,  as  demonstrated  by  the  coin  struck  by  Felix  during  his 
procuratorship  in  Judaea,  in  the  reign  of  Nero.  The  two  pro- 
curatorships  of  Felix  over  the  Jews  more  than  justify  the  re- 
mark of  the  apostle — that  Felix  had  been  ruler  of  that 
"nation"  for  "many  years"  in  the  comparative  and  natural 
sense,  since  the  usual  period  for  the  exercise  of  such  authority 
had  been  but  bwo  or  three  years. 

The  Unknown  Egyptian  Impostor. 
An  incident  of  very  considerable  importance  occurred  unaer 
the  administration  of  Felix,  which  connects  this  procurator 
with  the  Apostle  Paul  in  the  account  of  the  New 

^  .  §  298.  The 

Testament.     While  Paul  was  engaged  in  his  spir-     unnamed 

itual  devotions  in  the  courts  of  the  temple  during      ™^°^  °^ 

his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  he  was  seized  and  beaten  by  some 

of  his  Jewish   brethren,  but  rescued  by  the  Roman  soldiery 

garrisoned  at  the  castle  Antonia,  at  the  extreme  northwest 

grounds  of  the  temple.     When  the  soldiers  brought  Paul  into 

the  castle,  the  chief  captain  said : 

"Dost  thou  know  Greek?  Art  thou  not,  then,  the  Egyptian  who 
before  these  days  stirred  up  to  sedition  and  led  out  into  the  wilderness 
the  four  thousand  men  of  the  assassins?  But  Paul  said:  I  am  a  Jew  of 
Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  a  citizen  of  no  mean  city."  ''^ 

The  particular  point  to  be  observed  is  not  Paul's  personal 
experience,  but  the  inquiry  of  the  chief  captain  Lysias  as  to  a 
nameless  impostor  who  figured  as  a  prophet,  called  "  the  Egyp- 
tian," whom  Paul  was  supposed  to  be.  That  there  was  in  fact 
such  a  character,  who  brought  disaster  upon  a  multitude  of 
Jews,  is  made  evident  by  secular  and  contemporary  history. 
Josephus  describes  the  man  and  his  procedures  with  much 
circumstantiality  in  his  different  works.     He  says : 

"There  came  out  of  Egypt  about  this  time  to  Jerusalem  one  who 
said  that  he  was  a  prophet,  and  advised  the  multitude  of  the  common 

'6  Acts  xxl,  37,  39. 


440         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

people  to  go  along  with  him  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  .  .  .  that  from 
thence  he  would  show  them  how  at  his  command  the  walls  of  Jerusalem 
should  fall  down ;  and  he  pi-omised  them  that  he  would  procure  them  an 
entrance  into  the  city  through  those  walls  when  they  were  fallen  down." 
Felix  "ordered  his  soldiers  to  take  weapons,  and  he  came  against  them 
with  a  great  number  of  horse  and  footmen.  .  .  .  He  slew  four 
hundred  of  them,  and  took  two  hundred  alive.  But  the  Egyptian  him- 
self escaped."" 

In  another  history  Josephus  mentions  this  occurrence, 
adding  merely  that  "  the  Egyptian  fled,  followed  by  only  a 
few,"  and  that  "  the  greatest  number  of  those  that  were  with 
him  were  either  slain  or  taken  prisoners."  ^ 

1.  The  first  thing  to  be  noticed  is,  that  the  incident  of  the 
adventure  of  the  Egyptian  impostor  referred  to  by  Luke  is 

oor^o  rr^v,      historical.     It  is  interesting,  if  not  remarkable, 

§  299.  The  " '  ' 

Case  is  that  both  the  chief  captain  and  Josephus  identify 
the  notable  false  prophet  as  "  an  Egyptian."  Jo- 
sephus mentions  him  as  "the  Egyptian  false  prophet"  who 
"came  out  of  Egypt;"  that  others  joined  "  with  the  Egyptian" 
in  the  "sedition,"  and  that  at  the  close  of  the  battle  "the 
Egyptian  escaped."  Lysias,  the  chief  captain,  also  said:  "Art 
thou,  then,  not  the  Egyptian? "  Naturally  he  supposed  that  he 
had  at  last  the  escaped  criminal  in  custody  in  the  person  of 
Paul,  as  he  could  not  readily  understand  why  the  Jews  other- 
Avise  should  raise  a  tumult  in  their  own  temple  grounds  in 
the  midst  of  sacrificial  services,  and  assault  one  of  their  own 
brethren  in  that  murderous  way.  But  he  soon  discovered 
his  mistake.  Nevertheless,  the  coincidence  of  language  by 
Josephus  and  the  chief  captain  designating  the  place  of  the 
false  prophet's  nativity,  is  precisely  that  kind  of  language  to 
be  looked  for  as  determinative  of  any  case  as  historical. 

2.  It  is  contended,  however,  that  Josephus  and  Luke  are  at 
„  ^^^  ^.  variance  as  to  the  numbers  led  off  in  tliis  sedition 

§  300.  Discrep- 
ancy Between    by  the  Egyptian.     Josephus  records  that  three 

thousand  were  led  out  into  the  wilderness,  while 

Luke  records  "four  thousand."    A  discrepancy  in  the  estimate 

'Mni.  XX,  8,  6.  78  Wars,  il,  13,  6. 


Roman  Ruleks  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       441 

of  the  numbers  does  not  vacate  the  fact.  But  it  is  to  be  noted 
carefully  that  it  is  not  at  all  Luke's  estimate,  but  that  of  Lysias^ 
the  chief  captain ;  and  the  only  responsibility  of  Luke  involved 
is  that  of  recording  faithfully  just  what  Lysias  said  in  the 
premises.  The  discrepancy  is  exclusively  between  Josephus 
and  the  chief  captain,  and  Luke's  record  remains  unimpeached. 

Paul  and  Roman  Citizenship. 

As  matters  now  progressed,  the  chief  captain  proposed  to 
know   who  the    prisoner  was,  and  prepared  to 

,  ...  .      '  §301.  The 

make  examination  by  exposing  the  person  of  the     Rights  of 
apostle  to  the  torture  of  the  rods,  when   Paul    Citizenship, 
appealed  to  his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen  under  the  law.     The 
record  is  that — 

"  When  they  had  tied  him  up  with  thongs,  Paul  said  unto  the  centu- 
rion that  stood  by,  Is  it  lawful  for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a 
Koman  and  uncondemned?  .  .  .  And  the  chief  captain  came  and 
said  unto  him,  Tell  me,  art  thou  a  Roman?  And  he  said.  Yea.  And 
the  chief  captain  said.  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  citizenship. 
And  Paul  said,  But  I  am  a  Roman  born.  They  then  who  were  about 
to  examine  him  [by  scourging]  straightway  departed  from  him ;  and  the 
chief  captain  also  was  afraid  when  he  knew  he  was  a  Roman,  and  be- 
cause he  had  bound  him."  '^ 

The  right  of  Roman  citizenship  involved  personal  freedom. 
It  was  in  itself  a  proud  claim  of  character  entitling  one  to 
the  consideration  due  to  high  dignity  and  position  in  society. 
It  afforded  immunity  from  burdens  of  the  government,  and 
conveyed  claims  which  were  sacredly  secured  and  protected 
by  law.  Among  other  privileges,  a  citizen  enjoyed  full 
rights  of  property  and  control  over  his  children  and  depend- 
ents; he  had  a  voice  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  and  in 
the  election  of  magistrates,  and  after  his  death  his  will  was 
sacredly  authoritative  to  dispose  of  property.  For  crime  he 
was  liable  on  condemnation  to  be  beheaded ;  but  he  was  ex- 
empt by  law  from  bonds  and  imprisonment,  from  scourging 
and  crucifixion.      These  punishments  were  reserved  for  slaves 

79  Acts  xxil,  25-29. 


442         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

and  criminals,  but  were  held  to  be  too  inhuman  and  ignoble 
to  be  inflicted  upon  a  Roman  citizen.  It  was  a  grave  crime  to 
impose  such  punishment  upon  a  "  Eoman,"  and  it  is  said  that 
any  magistrate  doing  so,  rendered  himself  liable  to  the  same 
penalty.  This  explains  the  fear  of  the  officers  in  charge  of 
the  apostle  both  at  Philippi  and  at  Jerusalem,  where  his  claim 
of  citizenship  was  made  and  respected.  The  mere  declaration, 
^^I  am  a  Roman  citizen^''  was  deemed  sufficient,  and  if  falsely 
claimed,  rendered  the  claimant  liable  to  death.  But  exemp- 
tion on  this  plea  was  available  only  in  the  presence  of  a 
Roman  magistrate,  and  was  not  available  before  a  Jewish 
authority.  Hence  the  apostle  says:  "Of  the  Jews  five  times 
received  I  forty  stripes  save  one."  ^  At  a  Roman  tribunal,  a 
citizen  was  entitled  to  a  trial  by  legal  process ;  and  the  right 
of  appeal  from  a  provincial  magistrate's  decision  to  the  Em- 
peror of  Rome  was  an  inviolable  right  of  a  Roman  citizen 
under  the  law. 

The  Valerian  law  (B.  C.  508)  disallowed  strictly  the   hind- 
ing  of  a  Roman  citizen;  and  the  Porcian  law  (B.  C.  300)  for- 
bade the  citizen  being  heaten  with  rods.     Cicero, 

§  302.  Citizen- :  .  .    °  ' 

ship  and        in  his  Oration  against  Verres,  speaks  with  much 

Roman  Law.  •.         £     i-\        \  •    ^         t    •  j-^i        £   i 

pride  01    the  high    claim   and   its   lawful   pro- 
tection and  immunities.     He  says : 

"  That  exclamation,  '  I  am  a  Roman  citizen,'  which  often  has  brought 
assistance  and  safety  among  barbarians  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
earth." *^  "Whosoever  he  might  be  whom  thou  wert  hurrying  to  the 
rack,  were  he  even  unknown  to  thee,  if  he  said  that  he  was  a  '  Roman 
citizen,'  he  would  necessarily  obtain  from  thee,  the  prijetor,  by  the  sim- 
ple mention  of  Rome,  if  not  escape,  yet  at  least  a  delay  in  punishment."  ^^ 
With  great  indignation  he  says;  "A  Roman  citizen  was  publicly  beaten 
with  rods  in  the  Forum  of  Messina ;  during  this  public  dishonor,  no 
groan,  no  expression  of  the  unhappy  wretch  was  heard  amid  the  cruel- 
ties he  suffered  and  the  sound  of  the  strokes  which  were  inflicted,  but 
this :  '  I  am  a  Roman  citizen.'  "  ^ 

"The  Porcian  law  removes  the  whips  from  the  body  of  all  Roman 
citizens."    "The  Porcian  law  takes  away  the  liberty  of  a  Roman  citizen 

««  2  Cor.  xl,  24.  "  Orat.  pro  Verrem,  lib.  v.  c.  57. 

82  J6.  Act.  11, 1.  V,  cc.  64,  65.  ^OAgainst  Verres, 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       443 

from  the  hand  of  the  lictor."^  "It  is  a  violation  of  the  law  that  a 
citizen  be  bound;  it  is  a  crime  that  he  be  scourged."  "The  cause 
being  heard,  many  can  be  absolved;  but  unheard*^  no  man  can  be 
condemned." 

In  view  of  these  noble  principles  of  Roman  judicature, 
then  so  well  established  and  so  generally  understood,  it  was 
unquestionably  a  matter  of  painful  surprise  and  alarm  to  the 
chief  captain  when  he  discovered  that  the  prisoner  in  his  cus- 
tody, whom  he  should  have  protected  by  the  shield  of  the  law, 
was  a  Roman  citizen,  whom  he  had  ordered  tied  up  with  two 
thongs  to  the  whipping  post  with  the  purpose  of  scourging 
him  as  a  criminal  slave!  A  better  insight  into  the  embarrass- 
ing situation  of  Lysias  in  the  castle  of  Antonia  can  hardly  be 
furnished  by  written  history.  The  very  naturalness  of  the 
narrative  is  so  impressive  as  to  convey  to  the  mind  the  con- 
viction of  its  truth. 

Claudius  Lysias  affirms  that  he  had  purchased  his  citizen- 
ship "with  a  great  sum."  Was  this  transaction  accordant 
with   the  history  of  the   times?     Tacitus   men- 

•^  .  8  303.  Citizen- 

tions  that  in  the  times  of  Claudius  (41-54),  ship.  How 
"  The  census  of  citizenship  [in  the  entire  empire] 
was  five  millions,  nine  hundred  and  eighty-four  thousand  and 
seventy-two."^  Now,  it  is  historical  that,  during  the  period 
of  the  empire,  citizenship  was  conferred  very  freely  and 
readily,  and  even  capriciously;  sometimes  for  a  price,  some- 
times for  a  service,  sometimes  for  merit.  In  some  cases  it  was 
bestowed  as  a  favor  upon  individuals;  in  others  upon  cities 
and  even  a  whole  province!  Suetonius  relates  how  that 
Augustus  deprived  some  cities  in  alliance  with  Rome  of  their 
freedom,  and  rebuilt  others  which  had  been  destroyed  by 
earthquakes,  or  were  deeply  in  debt.^ 

"  To  those  who  could  produce  any  instance  of  their  having  deserved 
well  of  the  Roman  people,  he  presented  with  the  freedom  of  the  Lat- 
ium,  or  even  that  of  the  City  [Rome]."      Philo  represents  Agrippa  I 

^  Oral,  pro  Rabiro.  ^Verrem,  v,  66,  Oral.  5.  s"  Annals,  xi,  25. 

*''  Augustus,  47. 


444         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

as  saying  to  Caligula  his  friend:  "You  have  enabled  whole  countries 
to  which  your  friends  belong  to  be  citizens  of  Rome."^  Suetonius 
mentions  that  Nero  had  "  the  Pyrrhic  dance  performed  by  certain  youths, 
to  each  of  whom,  after  the  performance  was  over,  he  granted  the  free- 
dom of  Rome."^^  Dion  Cassius  states  that  Antony  "  collected  money 
from  private  individuals,  selling  to  some  the  right  of  citizenship,  and 
to  others  exemption  from  taxes."  "After  this  Claudius  .  .  .  took 
away  the  liberty  of  the  City  from  many  who  were  worthy  of  it,  and, 
without  any  reason,  gave  it  to  others ;  sometimes  to  single  individuals  ; 
at  other  times  to  a  great  number  collectively.  For  the  Romans,  so  to 
speak,  having  the  preference  over  strangers,  there  were  many  who 
begged  the  citizenship  of  the  emperor,  and  others  who  bought  it  of 
Messalina  or  of  Cfesar's  friends.  On  account  of  this,  the  privilege  which 
formerly  had  been  purchased  at  a  great  price,  thereupon  was  rendered 
cheap  by  this  reckless  accommodation ;  so  that  even  the  story  was 
invented  that  albeit,  if  a  man  should  give  to  one  as  compensation  pieces 
of  shattered  glass,  he  shall  become  a  citizen."  ^ 

These  historical  references  and  citations  amply  confirm  the 
statement  of  Lysias  in  claiming  to  have  purchased  his  citizen- 
ship at  a  great  price;  and  of  Luke,  who,  in  recording  the 
claim,  wrote  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times. 

A  different  but  a  very  material  point  touching 

8  304.  Citizen-  "^  ^  ° 

ship  and        the  historicity  of  Luke's  record  is  the  case  and 
the   ews,       ^laim  of  the  apostle  to  being  a  Roman  citizen  by 

heredity:  "But  I  am  a  Roman  born."     Facts  shall  speak  for 

themselves. 

Appian  says:  "  Mark  Antony  gave  liberty  and  immunity  from  taxes 
to  Laodicea  and  Tarsus,  and  by  special  edict  ordered  that  all  citizens  of 
Tarsus  who  had  been  captured  and  sold  for  slaves  should  be  manu- 
mitted."®^ Lucian  mentions  "  that  on  the  request  of  Athenodorus,  a 
Stoic  philosopher  of  Tarsus,  and  teacher  of  Augustus,  the  city  was  freed 
from  tribute  ;"***  and  Pliny  adds  "that  Tarsus  was  a  free  city."** 
Conybeare  and  Howson  say:  "We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that 
at  the  period  of  the  apostle's  birth,  the  Jews  were  unmolested  at 
Tarsus,  where  his  father  lived  and  enjoyed  the  rights  of  a  Roman 
citizen.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  this  citizenship  was  a  privi- 
lege which  belonged  to  the  members  of  the  family,  as  being  natives 
of  this  city.  Tarsus  was  not  a  municipium,  nor  was  it  a  colonia,  like 
Philippi  in  Macedonia,  or  Antioch  in  Pisidia;  but  it  was  a  free  city 
(urb8  libera)  like  the  Syrian  Antioch   and    its  neighbor  city,  Seleucia- 

M  De  Virtue,  11,  578.  e^Nero,  12.  <"  JJi.H.  Rom.  Ix,  17. 

^^Appian  de  Bell.  Civ.  v.  «  Workg,  Vol.  II,  473.  «»  Pliny,  lib.  v.  27. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       445 

on-the-Sea.  Such  a  city  had  the  privilege  of  being  governed  by  its 
own  magistrates,  and  was  exempt  from  the  occupation  of  a  Roman 
garrison ;  but  its  citizens  did  not  necessarily  possess  the  civitas  of 
Rome.  .  .  The  family  of  St.  Paul  were  in  the  same  position  at  Tar- 
sus as  those  who  wei'e  Jews  of  Asia  Minor,  and  yet  citizens  of  Rome  at 
Ephesus."9< 

"  Rawlinson  observes:  "Citizenship  by  birth  on  the  part  of  a  for- 
eigner might  arise  (1)  From  his  being  a  native  of  some  colony  or  mu- 
nicipium  ;  (2)  From  a  grant  of  citizenship,  on  account  of  service  rendered 
to  his  father  or  a  more  remote  ancestor ;  or  (3)  From  his  father  or  more 
remote  ancestor  having  purchased  his  freedom."^  W.  L.  Bevan  says: 
"The  right  once  obtained,  descended  to  a  man's  children."^  T.  J. 
Woolsey  adds:  "Roman  citizenship  was  most  frequently  acquired  by 
birth ;  but  for  this  it  was  requisite  that  both  father  and  mother  should 
be  citizens.  If  a  citizen  married  a  Latina  or  a  Peregrina,  the  children 
followed  the  status  of  the  mother."^  Suetonius  says,  however,  that 
Caligula  restricted  the  privilege  of  citizenship  by  heredity  to  the  sons ; 
that  the  emperor  declared  that  "  none  had  any  right  to  the  freedom 
of  Rome,  although  their  ancestors  had  acquired  it  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity,  unless  they  were  sons ;  for  that  none  beyond  that  de- 
gree ought  to  be  considered  posterity."^ 

Josephus  remarks  that  the  Jews  having  been  highly  serviceable  in 
Egypt,  in  the  interests  of  Julius  Csesar  in  opposition  to  Pompey,  Julius 
"  honored  Antipater  very  greatly  and  confirmed  Hyi-canus  in  the  high 
priesthood,  and  bestowed  upon  Antipater  the  pi'ivilege  of  a  citizen  of 
Rome,  and  freedom  from  taxes  everywhere." ^^  "Two  of  the  principal 
Syrians  in  Csesarea  persuaded  Burrhus,  who  was  Nero's  tutor  and  secre- 
tary for  his  Greek  Epistle,  by  giving  him  a  great  sum  of  money,  to  dis- 
annul the  equality  of  the  Jewish  privileges  of  citizens  which  they  had 
hitherto  enjoyed."^™  "Lucius  Lentulus,  the  consul,  freed  the  Jews 
that  are  in  Asia  from  going  into  the  armies,  at  my  intercession  for 
them."  But  the  procurator  Florus  "  whipped  and  nailed  to  the  cross 
before  his  tribunal  those  who,  although  they  were  by  birth  Jews,  yet 
were  they  of  the  Roman  dignity,  nevertheless."^''^ 

Arrian  says  that  "those  who  feigned  to  be  Roman  citizens  were 
severely  punished." ^"^  Suetonius  affirms  that  Claudius  "confiscated 
the  estates  of  all  freedmen  who  [falsely]  presumed  to  take  upon  them 
the  equestrian  rank."^''^  "  Those  usurping  the  freedom  of  Rome,  Clau- 
dius beheaded  on  the  Esquiline  "  ^"^ — a  place  devoted  to  the  execution 
of  the  worst  criminals  at  the  Capital. 

^  Life  and  Epis.  of  St.  Paul,  i,  55,  56,  Eng.  ed. 

«'Bamp.  Lects.  18.59,  Amer.  ed.  p.  398,  n.  50.  Lect.  vll. 

96  Smith's  Bib.  Did.  "  Citizenship."  9'  Johnsoa's  Cycl.  ^  Caligula  38. 

^Ant.  xiv.  8,  1-3.  i^i  6.  xx.  8,  9.  i<>^Ant.  xlv.  10,  13;  Wars,  11.  14,  9. 

102" Qui  jus  Romanae  clvitatis  luentluntur,  gravlter  punluntur"  (cited  by 
Blscoe).  lo^sueton.  CTowrfms,  c.  25. 

i<H"Clvltatem  Bomanam  usurpantes  in  campo  Esquellno  securi  percusslt." 
(Clauflius  25.) 


446  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Thrice  at  least  did  the  apostle  claim  for  himself  the  dig- 
nity, the  rights,  and  immunity  of  a   Roman  citizen,  either 
outright  or  by  necessary  implication.     In  all 

§305.  Citizen-  ®  ,  ,    •  i  j  i 

ship  of  the      instances  the  claim   was  respected  and  acted 
Apostle  Paul.    ^^^^^      ^pj^^  g^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  Philippi ; 

the  second  at  Jerusalem;  and  the  third  at  Cajsarea.  At 
Philippi  he  and  Silas  together  were  subjected  to  the  twofold 
indignity  of  scourging  and  imprisonment  in  stocks ;  an  outrage 
with  the  added  aggravations  that  this  was  done  to  them  with- 
out a  crime,  mthout  inquiry,  without  a  trial,  before  the  open 
public,  and  upon  the  demands  of  an  irresponsible  and  fanatical 
mob.  Afterwards,  when  the  authorities  would  privately  rid 
themselves  of  their  prisoners,  Paul  said  to  the  officer  in  charge : 

"They  have  beaten  us  publicly,  uncondemned  [by  trial  and  sen- 
tence], men  who  are  Romans,  and  cast  us  into  prison;  and  do  they  now 
cast  us  out  privily  ?  Nay,  verily ;  but  let  them  come  themselves  and 
bring  us  out.  .  .  .  And  they  feared  when  tliey  heard  that  they  were 
Romans  ;  and  they  came  and  besought  them  .  .  .  and  brought  them 
out."^05 

The  conduct  of  the  magistrate  and  officers  is  obviously  a 
concession  of  the  legality  of  the  claim  to  citizenship,  as  well 
as  a  confession  of  the  fact  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  outrag- 
ing the  Roman  law,  and  exposing  themselves  to  the  severest 
penalty.  "The  divine  Augustus  made  a  law  that  torture 
should  not  be  applied  "  ^"^  to  a  citizen.  "  But  arbitrary  power 
often  broke  over  this  law,  both  at  Rome  and  in  the  prov- 
inces." ^'^  The  usual  order  to  inflict  punishment  was  terse, 
peremptory,  and  intensely  Roman:  '■^ Lictor^  seize^  strip, 
scourge  /  "  i*^ 

Now,  the  interesting  question  arises:  Why  did  not  Paul 
plead  at  Philippi  his  citizenship  at  the  first,  and  save  himself 
the  suffering  and  degradation  of  the  scourge,  as  he  did  after- 
wards at  Jerusalem?  Neither  the  apostle,  nor  yet  Luke,  gives 
a  single  word  of  explanation.  The  reason  must  be  found  out- 
side the  sacred  text. 


i<»Acts  xvl,  21, 22, 3ft-39.  ^^Digest.  48,  Tit.  18,  $  1. 

""  Rawl.  Bampt.  Lects.  p.  399.  '"^ "  Summove,  Lictor,  despoila,  vei-bera." 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       447 

Biscoe  says:  "The  [Babylonian]  Talmud  explains  this  to  us.  It  is 
thence  abundantly  evident  that  they  [the  Jews]  were  very  backward  to 
excommunicate  the  wise  [men],  the  doctors,  and  the  teachers  of  the  law. 
If  such  committed  crimes  worthy  of  excommunication,  they  scourged 
them,  but  were  unwilling  to  excommunicate  them.  .  .  .  Scourging 
left  no  mark  of  infamy,  nor  any  diminution  of  a  person's  dignity,  so  that 
the  high  priest  himself  was  subject  to  this  punishment.  .  .  .  Foras- 
much as  he  [Paul]  professed  a  subjection  to  the  Jewish  laws,  it  was  in 
vain  for  him  to  plead  this  privilege  [of  citizenship].  The  Romans 
allowed  the  Jews  to  use  their  own  laws.  Roman  citizens  themselves,  if 
Jews,  were  to  undergo  the  penalties  presci'ibed  by  the  Jewish  laws."^''^ 
Dr.  Farrar's  answer  is  to  the  following  effect:  "To  have  refused  to 
undergo  [scourging]  by  shielding  himself  under  the  privilege  of  Roman 
citizenship,  would  have  been  to  incur  excommunication,  and  finally  to 
have  cut  himself  off  from  admission  into  the  synagogues."  His  proffer, 
then,  would  not  have  been  "  first  to  the  Jew,  and  also  to  the  Gentile."  "<• 

This  answer  is  perfect  when  the  apostle  was  in  the  hands 
of  officers  who  were  Jews ;  but  is  not  applicable  in  his  case  at 
Philippi,  or  at  Jerusalem,  or  at  Caesarea,  where  the  magis- 
trates or  officers  were  Romans.  Paul  says:  "Of  the  Jews 
received  I  forty  stripes  save  one."  Twice  at  Jerusalem  Paul 
made  this  claim:  "I  am  a  Jew  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  a  citizen 
of  no  mecm  cityP  Afterward  again  Lysias  asked  in  legal 
form,  in  reply  to  which  the  true  answer  must  come :  "  Tell  rne, 
art  thou  a  Roman  V  The  reply  was  an  unqualified  affirma- 
tion, "  y^^."  In  his  letter  to  Felix,  Lysias  credited  the  claim 
as  proper:  "I  came  with  the  soldiers  and  rescued  him,  having 
learned  that  he  was  a  Roman."  "^ 

The  third  instance  in  which  Paul  claimed  citizenship  was 
when,  under  the  accusation  of  the  Jews  at  Caesarea,  Festus 
asked  the  apostle  whether  he  was  willing  to  go  and  be  tried 
by  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem.     His  manly  reply  was : 

"  I  am  standing  [now]  before  Caesar's  judgment-seat,  where  I  ought 
to  be  judged.  ...  If  none  of  these  things  be  true  whereof  they  ac- 
cuse me,  no  man  may  give  me  unto  them.  /  appeal  unto  Cassar."  Then 
Festus  answered:  "Thou  hast  appealed  unto  Caesar;  unto  Caesar  shalt 
thou  go."  "2 

^<»Hist.o/ Ads,  177,178. 

110  Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul,  Vol.  I ;  Excursus,  xl,  p.  664.  "'Acts  xxlll,  27. 

1"  lb.  XXV,  10-12,  21. 
29 


448         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

No  one  but  a  citizen  was  entitled  to  appeal  from  a  provin- 
cial ruler  to  the  Emperor  of  Kome ;  but  to  such,  the  right  was 
guaranteed  by  the  Porcian,  the  Valerian,  and  Sempronian 
laws.  No  officer  or  magistrate  could  lawfully  refuse  to  enter- 
tain the  appeal ;  and  after  the  word  had  been  spoken,  neither 
party  could  withdraw  or  avert  the  appeal.  The  grant  is  there- 
fore the  evidence  that  the  appeal  was  just,  and  an  official  rec- 
ognition of  Paul's  citizenship.  Also  King  Agrippa  II,  who 
heard  the  appeal  made  and  granted,  admitted  the  claim  when 
he  said :  "  This  man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he  had 
not  appealed  unto  Caesar."  The  appeal  was  entertained  at 
Rome,  when  the  appeal  was  duly  heard.  This  was  the  final 
confirmation  of  the  dignity  claimed.  Suetonius  remarks  of 
Augustus  Cajsar: 

''All  appeals  in  causes  between  inhabitants  of  Rome  he  assigned 
every  year  to  the  prsetor  of  the  city ;  and  where  provincials  were  con- 
cerned, to  men  of  consular  rank,  to  one  of  whom  the  business  of  each 
province  was  referred.""^ 

INDUCTIONS. 

These  several  occurrences,  happening  under  the  ruling  of 
the  respective  procurators  of  Judaea,  serve  to  illustrate  the 
internal  history  of  the  times,  and  confirm  the  statements  con- 
cerning them  in  the  historical  New  Testament.  They  evidence 
such  a  perfect  acquaintance  on  the  part  of  the  Evangelist  with 
the  minutiae  of  these  public  affairs,  that  it  is  difficult  to  resist 
the  conviction  that  the  writer  was  writing  from  personal  ob- 
servation, and  out  of  the  times  of  these  events.  The  following 
conclusions  are  therefore  legitimated : 

1.  That  the  purchased  citizenship  for  a  great  price,  as 
claimed  by  Lysias,  harmonizes  with  the  facts  and  spirit  of  the 
times,  as  described  by  the  historian  Dion  Cassius :  "  This  priv- 
ilege had  formerly  been  purchased  at  a  great  price." 

2.  That  it  is  in  evidence  that  Jews  were  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  Roman  citizenship,  not  merely  on  the  testimony  of 

UMMfirus^MS,  38,  close. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       44:9 

Appian  that  Antony  "  gave  liberty  to  Tarsus,"  and  on  that  of 
Pliny  that  "Tarsus  was  a  free  city,"  but  on  the  witness  of 
Josephus  that  Lycius  Lentulus  discharged  some  of  the  army 
upon  discovering  that  they  were  "Jews  who  were  Roman  citi- 
zens" in  Asia;  and  further,  that  Florus  crucified  Jews  "who 
were  of  the  Roman  dignity."  These  facts  taken  together 
warrant  a  powerful  presumption  favorable  to  the  belief  that 
Paul's  ancestry  resident  at  Tarsus  were  Roman  citizens,  and 
that  Paul  came  into  possession  of  that  dignity  by  heredity. 

3.  That  the  apostle  himself  grounds  this  civic  right  upon  the 
recognized  principle  of  Roman  law  that  he  acquired  it  duly  by 
inheritance :  "  I  am  a  Roman  born."  That  the  right  of  this 
privilege  by  birth  was  inalienable  in  law  was  virtually  con- 
ceded by  Caligula,  who  limited  the  term  "  posterity "  to  the 
sons  of  citizens  exclusively.  Though  otherwise  acquirable,  the 
most  common  method  was  its  transmission  by  birth. 

4.  Paul's  own  claim  of  citizenship  was  not  merely  infer- 
ential, but  it  was  positively  affirmed  again  and  again,  and  as 
often  entertained  and  conceded.  The  magistrates  at  Philippi, 
Lysias  at  Jerusalem,  Festus  and  Agrippa  at  Csesarea,  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  appeal  unto  Caesar  at  Rome,  are  so  many 
proofs  that  the  claim  was  just  and  right  in  law,  and  in  the 
view  of  the  officers  of  the  law  having  the  matter  in  hand. 

5..  That  the  historical  character  of  Luke's  writing  is  suffi- 
ciently attested.  The  internal  evidence  of  his  writing  furnishes 
the  best  proof  of  his  familiarity  with  the  facts  and  incidents 
which  he  records ;  yet  there  is  the  witness  of  the  several  inde- 
pendent historians,  writing  in  different  countries,  in  different 
languages — Greek,  Roman,  and  Jewish  historians,  who  wrote 
tiear  his  own  time — who  powerfully  confirm  the  historicity  of 
Luke's  record  at  all  points. 

8  306.   III.  Porcius  Festus. 

a)  His  Historical  Character.  A  knowledge  of  the  procu- 
rator Festus  is  scanty.  Nothing  whatever  is  known  of  his 
history  prior  to  his  entrance  upon  his  public  office  in  Judaea, 


450         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

where  his  death  occurred  before  he  had  completed  his  second 
year  of  service.  The  only  two  sources  of  information  are  the 
writings  of  Luke  and  Josephus.  These,  however,  are  in  accord 
in  representing  Festus  as  an  historical  man,  and  a  just  and  up- 
right procurator  of  the  Jews  in  Judgea.  In  giving  a  narration 
of  Paul,  the  Evangelist  introduces  Festus  in  an  incidental 
manner : 

"But  when  two  years  [of  the  apostle's  imprisonment  at  Csesarea] 
were  fulfilled,  Felix  was  succeeded  by  Porcius  Festus.  .  .  .  Festus 
therefore  having  come  into  the  province,  after  three  days  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  from  Csesarea,"  etc."^ 

Three  historical  points  are  here  involved :  the  identification 
of  the  person ;  the  designation  of  the  office ;  and  his  place  in 
the  succession  after  Felix.  Josephus  is  equally  explicit  with 
Luke  touching  these  particulars,  but  gives  this  added  informa- 
tion, that  Festus  assumed  government  in  Judsea  in  the  reign 
of  Nero.     He  says: 

"Now  when  Porcius  Festus  was  sent  as  successor  to  Felix  by  Nero, 
the'principal  of  the  inhabitants  of  Csesarea  went  up  to  Rome  to  accuse 
Felix."  ^^^  "  Now  it  was  that  Festus  succeeded  Felix  as  procurator,  and 
made  it  his  business  to  correct  those  who  made  disturbances  in  the 
country." "®  "  Upon  Festus's  coming  into  Judsea,  it  happened  that 
Judsea  was  afflicted  with  robbers,"  etc."' 

It  is  a  noticeable  circumstance  that,  in  this  brief  record  of 
the  Jewish  historian,  Luke  is  confirmed  in  every  point  of  de- 
tail. It  is  in  order  next  to  consider  the  principal  facts  and 
incidents  which  occurred  under  the  administration  of  Festus 
with  a  view  to  their  historicity  as  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament. 
0)  Festus's  Use  of  ''My  Lord. " 

It  is  objected  to  Luke's  account  as  inaccurate  that  he  in- 
serts the  expression  "my  lord"  as  the  language  of  Festus  in 
reference  to  the  emperor,  and  that  this  expression  was  not  in 
use  during  this  period.  The  occasion  was  when  Paul  at  Cses- 
area was  brought  forth  by  this  procurator  and  delivered  his 

ii^Actsxxlv,  27;  XXV,  1.  "i>^n<.  xx,8,9.  "«  TFars,  11, 14, 1. 

»".4n«.  XX,  8, 10. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       451 

famous  address  before  King  Agrippa  II  and  the  chieftains  and 
dignitaries  of  the  city.  In  introducing  his  distinguished  pris- 
oner, Festus  said: 

"  I  found  that  he  had  committed  nothing  worthy  of  death  ;  and  as 
he  himself  appealed  to  the  emperor  I  determined  to  send  him.  Of  whom 
I  have  no  certain  thing  to  write  unto  my  Lord.""^ 

But  it  is  evident  that  this  title  was  applied  to  the  emperor 
as  early  as  the  time  of  Augustus,  for  Suetonius  says: 

"He  always  abhorred  the  title  of  lord  as  ill-omened  and  offensive. 
And  when  in  a  play  performed  at  the  theater  at  which  he  was  present, 
these  words  were  introduced,  '0  just  and  gracious  Lord,'  "^  and  the  whole 
company  with  joyful  acclamations  testified  their  appi'obation  of  them  as 
applied  to  him,  he  instantly  put  a  stop  to  their  indecent  flattery  by  wav- 
ing his  hand  and  frowning  sternly ;  and  the  next  day  publicly  declared 
his  displeasure  in  a  proclamation.  He  never  afterwards  would  suffer 
himself  to  be  addressed  in  that  manner,  even  by  his  own  children  or 
grandchildren,  either  in  jest  or  earnest ;  and  he  forbade  them  the  use  of 
all  such  complimentary  expressions  to  one  another." 

Suetonius  mentions  the  disapproval  by  Tiberius,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Augustus,  in  regard  to  this  title.  He  says :  "  Being 
once  called '  lord '  by  some  person,  he  desired  that  he  might 
no  more  be  affronted  in  that  manner."  ^^  Tacitus  cites  an  in- 
stance in  which  he  "sharply  rebuked  such  as  said  'his  divine 
occupations,'  and  called  him 'Lord.'" ^^^  Now,  the  fact  that 
both  these  emperors  repudiated  the  title,  proves  that  the  title 
had  heen  used.  Josephus  also  mentions  "a  sect"  of  pharisaic 
philosophers  whom  he  represents  as  saying  that — 

"God  is  to  be  their  only  ruler  and  Lord,  .  .  .  nor  can  any  fear 
make  them  call  any  man  Lord ;  and  since  this  immovable  resolution  of 
theirs  is  well  known,  I  will  speak  no  further'about  the  matter."  ^^2  '«  Now 
Caius  Caesar  did  so  grossly  abuse  the  fortune  he  had  arrived  at  as  to 
take  himself  to  be  agod."i23  "  jje  also  asserted  his  own  divinity,  and 
insisted  on  gi-eater  honors  to  be  paid  him  by  his  subjects  than  are  due  to 
mankind."  ^* 


118  Tt  7p<ii/'at  T(fi,Ktjpiip  ovK  fX'^t  Acts  xxv,  26. 

n«  "  o  Dominum  aequum  et  bonum,"  Augustus,  c.  53.  i*  Tiberius,  c.  27. 

»n  Annals,  ii,  87;  Josephus,  Wars,  11, 10,  4.  ^^Ant.  xvili,  1,  6. 

\»Wars,  11, 10,  1,  4.  ^Ant.  xlx,  1,  1. 


452         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Philo's  companions,  delegated  to  represent  the  Jews'  griev- 
ances to  the  emperor  at  Rome,  called  him  "  lord."  Pliny  ad- 
dressed his  official  letters  to  Trajan,  and  Fronto  addressed  his 
to  Marcus  Aurelius,  with  the  title  "my  lord."  Dion  Cassius 
mentions  Nero  as  appearing  clad  as  an  actor  in  the  theater, 
saying:  "Do  you  hear  me  favorably,  my  lords." ^^  Domitian 
dictated  as  the  form  of  letters  to  be  addressed  to  his  procu- 
rators: "Our  Lord  and  God  commands  so  and  so;  whence  it 
came  to  be  the  rule,  that  no  one  should  style  him  otherwise  in 
writing  or  speaking."  ^  Seneca  refers  to  his  own  brother  "  the 
deputy  of  Achaia,"  as  "  my  Lord  Gallio."  ^^^  Thomas  Lewin 
says :  "  Caligula  was  greedy  of  it  [the  title] ;  and  it  seems  to 
have  been  assumed  by  his  successors  till  the  reign  of  Domitian 
[A.  D.  81-96],  when  it  was  assigned  to  the  emperors  by  law."^^ 

In  the  presence  of  such  historical  evidence,  there  ought  to 
be  no  question  of  the  Evangelist's  accuracy ;  a  characteristic 
which  extends  to  the  minutest  detail  in  his  narration. 

§  307.   IV.   Proconsuls. 

The  mention  of  proconsuls  in  the  New  Testament  is  lim- 
ited to  the  Book  of  Acts.  There  are  but  three  instances, 
but  each  is  historically  exact.  These  are  (1)  "  The  proconsul 
Sergius  Paulus,  a  man  of  understanding,"  ^  who  was  converted 
to  the  Christian  faith  under  the  ministry  of  Paul,  during  his 
first  missionary  journey,  at  Paphos  in  the  island  Cyprus, 
where  he  was  resident  and  the  ruler  of  the  island.  (2)  "  "When 
Gallio  [Seneca's  brother]  was  proconsul  of  Achaia,"  ^^  who 
refused  to  entertain  a  charge  brought  against  Paul,  because 
it  was  merely  a  matter  of  the  Jews'  religion."  (3)  "The 
courts  are  open,  and  there  are  proconsuls  ;"^^*  a  statement 
made  by  the  town  clerk  at  Ephesus,  who  was  registrar  of  the 
city. 

ii»  Hint.  Rom.  1,  1x1,  20. 

i«6Ki;ptoc  and  Dominus  were  equivalents  In  Inscriptions.  See  President  Wool- 
Bey's  art.  "  Festus  "  in  Smithes  Bib.  Diet, 

I*' Seneca  said  of  his  brother:  '■'■Illud  mihi  in  ore  eraf  Domini  m,ei  Gallionis ;'" 
comp.  Epis.  104  with  Acts  xxv,  26.  '^s  Pnul,  11,  176;  note  148. 

i»  Acts  xlli,  7.  'SO  lb.  xvlli,  12.  i3'  lb.  xlx,  38. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       453 

"And  when  they  had  gone  through  the  whole  island  unto  Paphos, 
they  found  a  certain  sorcerer,  a  false   prophet,  a   Jew 
whose  name   was   Bar- Jesus,  who    was    with    the   pro-     §308.  Paulus 
consul  Sergius  Paulus,  a  man    of  understanding.     The       Proconsul, 
same  called  unto  him    Barnabas    and   Saul,  and   sought 
to  hear  the  word  of  God."  ^^' 

Paphos  was  a  city  located  on  the  extreme  west  end  of  the 
island,  Cyprus.  The  apostles  Barnabas  and  Paul,  starting 
from  Antioch  in  Syria,  were  making  together  their  first  mis- 
sionary journey ;  and  this  was  the  second  station  where 
they  stopped  in  their  work.  Luke  remarks  incidentally  that 
the  ruler  Sergius  Paulus  was  a  "  sagacious "  or  a  "  shrewd 
man."  ^^  In  former  times  scholarly  minds  found  much  diffi- 
culty in  reconciling  the  facts  with  the  statement  of  Luke 
touching  Paulus  being  proconsul  at  this  time ;  and  even  Gro- 
tius  came  to  believe  that  the  Evangelist  had  erred  in  designat- 
ing Cyprus  as  governed  by  a  proconsul  by  the  appointment  of 
the  Senate,  when  at  the  very  first  Augustus  had  made  it  an 
imperial  province.  Nevertheless,  time  and  investigation  have 
developed  the  exactness  of  the  Evangelist's  statement. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  original  partition  of  the  provinces, 
Cyprus  was  imperial ;  but  Dion  Cassius  relates  that  afterwards 
an  exchange  was  efifected  in  which  Dalmatia  was  taken  by  the 
emperor,  and  Gallia  Narbonensis  and  Cyprus  were  transferred 
to  the  Roman  Senate.  Thus  Cyprus  became  proconsular,  and 
Sergius  Paulus  became  the  proconsul.  And  what  lends  inter- 
est to  the  circumstance  is  the  fact  that  this  exchange  was 
effected  but  a  few  years  before  Luke  wrote  the  Book  of  Acts. 
Since  the  exchange  of  provinces  was  thoroughly  understood 
by  contemporaries,  it  was  not  needful  that  Luke  should  make 
any  explanation.  He  was  not  writing  to  explain  the  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  but  to  state  known  facts  concerning  it. 

Incontestable  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  this  conclusion 
has  been  discovered  in  the  red  copper  coins  from  native  mines 
in  that  region  in  Citium  and  Curiam,  bearing  inscriptions 

132  Acts  xlll,  6,  7,  12.  133  lb.  xiil,  7,  dvdpl   ffweri^ . 


454         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

relating  to  this  very  period,  ascribing  proconsular  functions  to 

Cominius  Proculus,  Julius  Cordus,  and  L.  Annus  Bassus.     I3e- 

„  „^^  ^     X.    sides,  the  strict  exactness  of  Luke  is  conclusively 

§309.  Proofs  '  -^ 

from  attested  by  a  coin  struck  under  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  when  Cominius  Proculus  was  procon- 
sul, who  is  understood  to  have  immediately  succeeded  Sergius 
Paulus  in  Cyprus.  The  coin  bears  on  the  obverse  side  an 
image  of  the  head  of  Claudius,  and  on  the  reverse  side  the 
superscription : 

"Of  the  Cyprians.    Under  Cominius  Proculus,  Proconsul."'^ 
This  is  conclusive  proof  that  Cyprus  was  proconsular  about 
this  time.     Another  inscription  of  recent  discovery  exists  in 
the  Cesnola's  Cy7)rus  in  these  words: 

"In  the  Rule  of  Paulus,  Proconsul."  ^^ 
This  is  conclusive  proof  respecting  Sergius  Paulus  being  pro- 
consul of  Cyprus.  These  perpetual  evidences,  like  monuments, 
settle  critically  and  permanently  any  reasonable  doubt  as  to 
the  authentic  and  authoritative  statements  of  Luke  respecting 
Sergius  Paulus  as  proconsul  of  Cyprus. 

In  describing  an  incident  in  Paul's  ministry  Luke  states: 
"But   when   Gallio  was  proconsul  of  Achaia,  the  Jews  with 

one  accord  rose  up  against  Paul  and    brought 
8  310.  Gallio  r      &  o 

of  him  before  the  judgment  seat."^*    To  substan- 

tiate  the  historical  character  of  this  proconsul- 
ship  is  somewhat  difficult  owing  to  the  numerous  changes  to 
which  it  was  subjected  about  this  period.  Originally,  Augus- 
tus assigned  it  to  the  Roman  Senate,  and  it  was  governed  by  a 
proconsul.  His  successor,  Tiberius,  upon  the  request  of  the 
people  interested,  placed  Achaia  with  the  emperor,  and  ruled 
it  by  a  procurator.     Tacitus  wrote :   "  The  province  of  Achaia 

^»*  Eckhd,  111,84;  Morell's  Then.  Nrtmis.  Illustr.  89,  42. 

>35Eni  HATAOT  [ANejIIlATOT.  See,  further,  Bishop  Llghtfoot  in 
Contemporary  Review  for  May  1878,  and  Essays,  p.  294;  also  Salmon's  Introd.  to 
the  JV.  T.  chap,  xvlll,  pp.  321,  822,  note. 

i86Actsxvill,  12. 


Roman  Ruleks  of  the  Jews  in  New  Testament.       455 

and  Macedonia  praying  relief  from  public  burdens,  were  for 
the  present  discharged  of  their  proconsular  government, 
and  transferred  to  Tiberius."  ^^  Then  in  the  fourth  year  of 
his  reign  Claudius  restored  the  province  to  the  Senate,  and  it 
was  again  governed  by  a  proconsul,  Suetonius  says  of  Claud- 
ius: "He  gave  up  to  the  Senate  the  provinces  of  Achaia  and 
Macedonia  which  Tiberius  had  transferred  to  his  own 
administration."  ^® 

Now,  Paul  was  brought  before  Gallio  at  Corinth  about  the 
year  53,  and  Claudius  reigned  A.  D.  41-54.  Pausanius,  Sue- 
tonius, and  Dion  Cassius  agree  that  the  province  was  already 
then  existent,  in  the  close  of  Claudius's  reign.  His  successor 
Nero,  soon  after  that  made  the  Greeks  free,  and  the  Senate 
then  lost  the  province  altogether.  It  thus  came  to  pass  as 
stated  by  Dr.  Salmon :  "Under  Tiberius,  Achaia  was  imperial ; 
under  Nero  it  was  independent ;  under  Claudius  it  was  sena- 
torial, as  represented  by  St.  Luke.  In  Ephesus  the  mention 
of  avOmrcLTOL  \i.  6.,  proconsuls]  (Acts  xix,  38)  is  equally  cor- 
rect." ^^ 

It  was,  then,  during  this  last  proconsular  period,  and  not 
long  before  the  province  was  finally  dissolved,  that  Paul 
appeared  before  the  tribunal  of  Gallio,  who  refused  to  enter- 
tain a  charge  against  him  on  the  score  of  his  religion.^^  By 
reason  of  these  frequent  transfers  of  the  province  of  Achaia 
between  emperor  and  Senate,  it  would  have  been  more 
than  difficult  for  any  writer  living  in  a  subsequent  century  or 
two  to  furnish  an  exact  history  of  the  political  condition  of 
the  country  in  detail  during  those  times.  Ample  proof  of  this 
is  furnished  in  the  case  of  several  classical  writers  of  fame 
who  lived  remote  from  the  country  or  the  times,  but  at- 
tempted to  give  an  historical  account  of  the  political  situation 
of  the  period,  and  made  egregious  errors  both  with  respect  to 

^«'  Annals,  1,  7«.  i^s  Claudius,  25. 

^f^Inirod.  N.  T.  322.    See  Tacit.  Annals,  1,  76;  Sueton.  Claudius,  25. 

»«)  Acts  xvill,  14-16. 


456         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

historical  facts  and  the  titles  of  the  rulers  of  the  land,  as 
is  demonstrated  by  Pitiscus  in  his  notes  on  Suetonius's 
Twelve  Ccesars,  and  Cardinal  Korisius  in  his  Cenotaphium 
Pisanum^^  as  well  as  in  the  writings  of  Tacitus  and  Celsus. 
Upon  the  contrary,  Luke  has  written  out  of  the  times,  without 
any  apparent  consciousness  of  difficulty  or  embarrassment, 
without  hesitation  or  explanation,  without  strain  or  affecta- 
tion; entering  into  details  in  a  most  natural  way,  recounting 
scenes  which  stand  before  the  mind  like  life-]3ictures,  having 
in  them  the  interest  and  glow  of  reality,  and  going  before 
the  world  with  a  brief  record  which  has  proved  to  be  of 
inerrant  correctness,  to  which  every  new  discovery  has  given 
a  fresh  affirmation  and  confirmation.  Such  exactness  in  de- 
tails is  incompatible  with  the  spirit  of  mythological  or  legend- 
ary writings.  Luke's  carefulness  in  historical  narrative  is 
something  wonderful;  and  the  easy  flow  of  his  style  and 
his  natural  handling  of  facts  are  such  as  become  almost  self- 
evident  of  the  authenticity  and  credibility  of  the  things 
which  he  narrates. 

"  If  therefore  Demetrius  and  the  craftsmen  that  are  Avith 
him  have  a  matter  against  a  man,  the  courts  are  open,  and 
S311.  ThePro-  there  are  proconsuls.""^  "The  town-clerk" ^^ 
consuls  of  Asia,  -^^g^g  originally  a  scribe  or  secretary,  who  was  the 
custodian  of  the  laws,  and  the  public  reader  of  the  decrees  of 
Greece ;  but  in  Asia  Minor  he  was  a  magistrate,  who  was  the 
chief  of  a  municipal  government.^^  In  the  Hebraistic  sense  of 
the  term,  he  was  simply  a  man  of  learning.^^  In  the  passage 
cited,  the  magistrate  of  Ephesus  meant  "  The  courts  of  law 
are  held  [for  civil  action],  and  there  are  proconsuls  [for  the 
trial  of  criminal  causes]."  The  case  presents  no  difficulty;  l)ut 
it  illustrates  the  Evangelist's  accuracy  as  an  historical  writer. 

K'Bf.s-coc  on -4c<s,  p.39.         '^^' K'^opiuoi  Ayovrai  Kal  dvd&iraToi  eiaiv,  Actsxlx,38. 
'♦^  Fpa/i/iaTeiJj-.  '"Alford,  Orcek  TestameiU,  in.  luco. 

»«  Smith's  Bib.  Did.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  !J315.  See  Thayer's  Greek  Dictionary  of  the  New 
Testament. 


Roman  Rulers  of  the  Jews  in  I!^ew  Testament.       457 

These  are  the  only  references  to  proconsuls  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

This  chapter  has  been  occupied  with  the  historical  investi- 
gation  of  the   existence,   character,   and   procedures  of  the 

Roman  rulers  of  Judaea — emperors,  leo^ate,  pro- 

^  .    *         ^  S312.  Sum- 

curators,  and  proconsuls — and  the  chief  facts  and       mary  and 

incidents  occurring  under  their  respective  admin- 
istrations, so  far  as  they  are  alluded  to  in  the  historical  part  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  emperors  are  five  in  number, — 
Augustus,  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius,  and  Nero.  Quirinius  is 
the  one  legate  whose  first  tenure  of  office  marks  the  date  of 
the  Nativity  of  Christ,  and  the  correct  date  for  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  as  that  now  known  as  B.  C.  4.  The  pro- 
curators are  three  in  number, — Pilate,  Felix,  and  Festus.  The 
proconsuls  are  two, — Sergius  Paulus  of  Cyprus,  Gallio  of 
Achaia;  and  others  unnamed,  but  designated  as  "proconsuls 
in  Asia."  These  officers  of  the  government  of  Judaea,  whose 
procedures  are  interwoven  with  the  history  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, have  been  found  to  be  strictly  historical  in  ev^ery  partic- 
ular. Chief  facts  and  events ;  such  as,  the  predicted  famine  of 
Agabus ;  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Rome ;  the  historicity 
of  the  Egj'^ptian  impostor;  the  Roman  citizenship  of  Tarsus 
and  Paul;  the  law  protecting  a  citizen  from  the  punishment 
of  scourging;  the  conversion  of  Sergius  Paulus;  the  deliver- 
ance of  Paul  by  Gallio  at  Achaia, — these,  and  many  other 
circumstances  of  like  importance,  are  fully  established  by  his- 
tory. There  are,  besides,  minor  facts  but  casually  mentioned ; 
such  as,  the  presence  of  the  procurator  at  Jerusalem  on  the 
national  feast-days  of  the  Jews;  the  importance  attached  to 
the  tessellated  pavement  in  matters  of  Roman  judicature ;  the 
law,  and  Pilate's  wife  being  at  Jerusalem  when  Jesus  under- 
went examination  before  Pilate;  Lysias  and  his  purchased 
citizenship ;  Festus  and  the  usus  of  the  expression  "  my  lord," — 
these,  and  many  other  matters  of  incidental  mention  in  the 


458         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Scriptures,  are  minutiae  verified  both  chronologically  and  his- 
torically. 

Can  all  such  particularizations  respecting  facts,  great  and 
small,  be  found  incorporated  into  the  very  warp  and  woof  of 
a  given  narrative  and  be  true,  and  the  narrative  yet  be  false  ? 
Can  historical  evidence  go  farther  in  establishing  and  veri- 
fying any  occurrences  or  facts  of  the  ancient  past  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  JEWISH  EULEKS  OF  THE  JEWS:  HOUSE  OF 
THE  HEEODS. 

I.  First  Generation  op  the  Herodian  Rulers. 
Herod  the  Great:  King. 

II.  Second  Generation  op  the  Herodian  Rulers. 

1.  Herod  Archelaus  :  Ethnarch. 

2.  Herod  Antipas  :  Tetrarch. 

3.  Herod  Philip  II :  Tetrarch. 

III.  Third  Generation  op  the  Herodian  Rulers. 

Herod  Agrippa  I :  King. 

IV.  Fourth  Generation  of  the  Herodian  Rulers. 

Herod  Agrippa  II :  King. 
V.  The  Several  Herodian  Princesses: 

1.  The  Princess  Herodias. 

2.  The  Princess  Bernice. 

3.  The  Princess  Drusilla. 

459 


Chapter  XYI. 

JEWISH  KULEES  OF  THE  JEWS :   HOUSE  OF  THE 

HERODS. 

§313.  Jewish  Riilers  of  the  Jews,  and  the  New  Testament. 

Historical  evidence,  like  judicial  evidence,  is  founded  on  the  testimony 
of  credible  witnesses.  ...  As  all  original  witnesses  must  be 
contemporary  with  the  events  which  they  attest,  it  is  a  necessary 
condition  for  the  credibility  of  a  witness  that  he  be  a  contempo- 
rary. .  .  .  Unless,  therefore,  an  historical  account  can  be 
traced  by  probable  proof  of  the  testimony  of  contemporaries,  the 
first  condition  of  historical  credibility  fails.  Accounts 
derived  directly  or  indirectly  from  the  reports  of  original  witnesses 
.  .  .  may  be  considered  as  presumptively  entitled  to  credit. — 
Sir  G.  C.  Lewis. 

When  the  writing  which  we  possess  is  the  writing  of  a  contemporary, 
supposing  that  it  is  a  credible  witness  and  had  means  of  observing 
the  facts  to  which  he  testifies,  the  fact  is  to  be  accepted  as  possess- 
ing the  first  degi-ee  of  credibility. — George  Eawlinson. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  point  out  any  similar  period  of  fifty  years  in 
English  history  marked  by  so  many  changes ;  and  it  would  not 
have  been  surprising  if,  supposing  them  to  have  been  merely 
ordinary  writers,  those  who  compiled  the  narratives  contained  in 
the  New  Testament,  had  evidenced  such  a  sense  of  difficulty  and 
hesitation  in  the  face  of  political  changes,  so  intricate  and  so  anom- 
alous. But  is  this  what  we  find  ?  On  the  contrary,  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  nowhere  betray  any  sense  of  perplexity 
They  mark  quite  incidentally  and  without  the  slightest  trace  of 
strain  or  effort  the  various  phases,  extraordinary  as  they  were,  in 
the  civil  government  of  Palestine. — G.  F.  Maclear. 

ARGUMENT. 

For  more  than  a  century  the  house  of  the  Herods  furnished  the  Jewish 
rulers  of  the  Jews.  For  five  generations  the  Herodian  princes 
were  imperially  invested  by  the  Romans  with  the  place  and  power 
of  government  in  this  country.  The  particular  epoch,  however, 
which  interests  this  discussion  is  that  covered  by  the  first  fifty 
years  of  the  Christian  era. 

Each  prince  of  this  ruling  family  is   recognized   in   the  New 
Testament,  in  his  proper  place  and  character  ;  and  every  princess 

461 


462         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  the  household  is  known  and  correctly  named  and  represented 
in  accordance  with  tlie  facts  and  testimony  of  accredited  secular 
history.  That  which  gives  an  added  interest  to  these  notices  is 
the  fact  that  each  prince  and  princess  is  brought  forward  on  some 
special  occasion,  when  the  personage  appeared  in  some  special 
relation  to  Jesus  Christ  or  one  of  his  apostles  ;  and  the  Evangelists 
introduce  in  briefest  and  most  casual  terms  the  princely  one  in 
connection  with  some  new  turn  in  the  course  of  events  narrated. 
The  question  whether  the  sacred  writers  were  errant  in  applying 
the  title  "King"  to  a  mere  ethnarch  or  a  tetrarch  will  receive 
critical  attention   in  its  proper  place. 

These  facts,  taken  in  connection  with  others,  legitimate  the 
induction  that  the  sacred  writers  were  the  contemporaries  of 
the  Herods,  and  were  perfectly  familiar  with  the  internal  govern- 
ment and  current  history  of  the  land  during  the  first  fifty  years 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  with  the  unparalleled  changes  and  com- 
plications of  a  political  character  which  occurred  in  that  period. 
The  very  casual  and  incidental  manner  in  which  persons  and  oc- 
currences are  mentioned,  makes  powerfully  for  the  authenticity 
of  the  sacred  writings,  and  are  of  such  a  character  as  to  render  a 
contrary  conclusion  not  only  uncritical,  but  absolutely  irrational. 

1.  Herod  the  Great— King. 

2.  Herod  Archelaus — Ethnarch. 

3.  Herod  Antipas — Tetrarch. 

4.  Herod  Philip  II— Tetrarch. 

5.  Herod  Agrippa  I — King. 

6.  Herod  Agrippa  II — King. 

The  historical  inquiry  now  passes  from  the  Koman  rulers 
of  the  Jews  in  Judaea  to  the  Jewish  rulei's  of  the  Jews  under 
the  princes  of  the  house  of  the  Herods.     The  Ro- 
Preiiminary   mans  and  Jews  alternated  at  different  times  in 
the  government  of  the  country.     Tacitus  is  author- 
ity for  the  statement  that,  in  the  year  63  or  64  B.  C,  "Pom- 
pey  was  the  first  Eoman  that  subdued  the  Jews."  ^     From  this 
time  forth  the  domination  of  the  conquerors  became  gradually 
more  and  more  severe  and  cruel,  until  the  exasperating  des- 
potism of  the  Roman  procurators  incited  a  universal  revolt  of 
the  Jews,  the  suppression  of  which  issued  in  the  utter  extinc- 
tion of  the  Jewish  nation,  the  burning  of  their  temple,  and  the 
expatriation  of  the  people,  in  the  year  70.     An  interesting  field 

I  History,  v,  9. 


Jewish  Eulebs  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  Herods.     463 

for  investigation  is  here  opened  respecting  the  Herods,  the 
Jewish  rulers  who  were  placed  in  power  by  the  Romans,  and 
a  wealth  of  incidents  which  occurred  in  the  first  half-century 
of  the  Herodian  reign  finds  frequent  allusions  in  the  historical 
New  Testament.  The  nameless  complications  and  perplexities 
arising  therefrom,  to  the  subjects  of  civil  government,  conse- 
quent upon  the  sudden  and  numerous  changes  of  rulers  and 
territory  during  that  period,  have  already  passed  under  re- 
view. 2  This  chapter  is  interested  principally  in  the  personnel 
of  these  rulers,  especially  at  points  where  the  history  of  their 
reign  overlaps  the  sacred  narrative. 

I.  The  First  Generation  of  the  Herods. 

HEROD  THE  GREAT  (B.  C.  47-4). 

Antipater  was  the  father  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  was 
much  in  favor  with  the  Roman  Government.  Julius  Caesar,  in 
the  year  B.  C.  47,  appointed  the  father  procurator  §315.  origin 
of  Judaea.^  He  was  of  Idumgean  stock,  better  of  Herod, 
known  as  an  Edomite,  a  descendant  of  Esau.*  John  Hyrcanus, 
having  conquered  the  Idumseans,  brought  them  into  the  Ju- 
daean  Government,  and,  conforming  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Jewish  circumcision,  they  embraced  the  Jewish  religion.  But 
they  were  always  regarded  with  prejudice  and  suspicion  by 
the  Jews,  who  styled  the  Idumaeans  but  "  half -Jews. "  ^  They 
occupied  a  southern  district  lying  between  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Dead  Sea  and  southward,  a  country  known  as  Nageb. 
Herod  was  the  second  son  of  Antipater  and  his  Arabian  wife 
Cypros,  who  was  of  noble  blood.** 

About  the  time  of  the  father's  appointment  to  the  procu- 
ratorship  of  Judaea,  Herod  was  made  "  procurator  of  all  Syria," 
with  the  promise  that  he  should  be  made  "  king  of  Judaea ;" ' 
and  his  father  "committed  Galilee  to  Herod"   "when  he  was 

2  See  chapter  xlv. 

^AnU  xlv,  8,  5.        «76.  xlv, 8,  5;  Wars,  1, 10,  3;  Smith's  Bih.  Diet.:  "Idumseans." 
6^n<.  xlll,  9, 1;  -4n<.  xlv,  15,  2;  XX,  8,  7.     ^Ib.  xly.7,3;  Wars, i,S,9.     'i6. 1,11,4. 
30 


464         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

but  fifteen  years  of  age"^ — probably  twenty-five  is  here  meant. 

In  41  B.  C,  Mark  Antony  "made  both  Herod  and  Phasa^lus 

[his  elder  brother]  tetrarchs,  and  committed  the 

Herod's      public  aflfairs  to  them;"^  and  during  the  next 

year  the   Parthians  invaded    his    dominions   in 

favor  of  Antigonus,  the  Asmonean  rival  of  Herod,  and  the 

rightful  heir  apparent  to  the  throne,  when  Herod  fled  to  Rome 

for  help.^"    Tacitus  records  that  "Herod  was  placed  on  the 

throne  by  Mark  Antony,  and  Augustus  [Caesar]  enlarged  his 

privileges."  "    But  Herod  could  not  assert  his  royal  privileges 

and  rights  over  Palestine  until,  with  the  help  of  the  Romans, 

he  had  captured  Jerusalem  in  the  year  37  B.  C.     Nevertheless 

his  coronation  and  enthronement  were  made  an  occasion  of 

great  magnificence  by  Caesar.^    Josephus  relates  that — 

"  When  Caesar  had  spoken  such  gracious  things  to  the  King  [Herod], 
and  had  put  the  diadem  again  upon  his  head,  he  proclaimed  by  decree 
what  he  had  bestowed  upon  him,  and  which  he  enlarged  in  the  commen- 
dation after  a  magnificent  manner." 

Herod  the  Great  had  a  great  passion  for  display  in  mag- 
nificent architecture  and  monuments,  as  also  had  all  his  ruling 
„  „      ,      descendants  after  him.     As  Jerusalem  was  the 

§317.  Herod's 

Architectural  metropolis  of  the  Jewish  nation,  he  adorned  the 
city  munificently  with  architectural  monuments. 
To  conciliate  the  Jews,  who  had  been  alienated  by  his  contin- 
uous aggravations  and  cruelties  as  their  sovereign,  with  much 
address  he  proposed  to  reconstruct  the  ancient  temple  of  Sol- 
omon, which  had  become  dilapidated  and  somewhat  moss- 
covered  by  the  passage  of  the  centuries.  But  it  was  shrewdly 
suspected  by  the  Jews  that  Herod's  real  object  was  to  get  into 
his  possession  the  public  genealogies  of  the  nations  deposited 
there,  especially  those  relating  to  the  priestly  families,  unto 
whom  these  tables  were  of  paramount  interest  and  importance. 

^Ant.  xlv,  9,  2;  comp.  Whlston's  Note,  and  Merlvale's  Romans  Under  the 
Empire,  ill,  87. 

^Ant.  xlv,  13, 1,  2;  Wars,  1, 12,  5.  ^oAnt.  xlv,  14, 8;  Wars,  1, 14,  4,  2. 

"  Hist.  Rom.  V,  9.  "  Wars,  i,  20,  3. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  Herods.    465 


It  was  believed  that  he  hoped  thereby  to  destroy  the  gene- 
alogy of  the  expected  Messiah,  and  so  destroy  the  evidence  of 
his  kingship,  lest  he  should  usurp  his  kingdom.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  he  endeavored  to  create  the  belief  that  he  was  doing  his 
Jewish  subjects  a  great  kindness  without  cost  to  them ;  and  he 
promised  that  he  would  not  build  a  new  temple,  but  merely 
restore  that  built  by  David's  son  to  its  ancient  magnificence ; 
for  the  restoration  attempted  by  Zerubbabel  upon  the  return 
of  Israel  from  the  captivity  of  Babylon  appears  to  have  fallen 
short  in  measurement  of  the  ancient  architecture,  in  height 
some  sixty  cubits,^^  and  the  whole  was  becoming  marked  with 
age  and  decay.  Accordingly,  Herod  took  down  the  old  temple 
to  its  foundations,  and  engaged  one  thousand  wagons  to  draw 
stones,  and  ten  thousand  skilled  workmen  to  teach  the  priests 
the  art  of  stonecutting  and  carpentering.^* 

The  tentple  proper  which  Herod  erected  was  one  hundred 
cubits  in  length  and  twenty  cubits  in  height.  It  was  con- 
structed of  white  stone,  each  one  being  five  cubits  long  and 
eight  high.  Surmounting  this  structure  was  a  great  white 
dome,  adorned  with  pinnacles  of  gold,  suggestive  of  a  moun- 
tain of  snow  as  seen  from  afar.  A  Jewish  tradition  affirms 
that  "  the  temple  itself  was  built  by  the  priests  in  one  year 
and  six  months,  when  they  celebrated  its  completion  with 
Jewish  feast  and  sacrifices;  but  that  the  cloisters  and  outer 
inclosures  were  eight  years  in  building."  However  that  may 
be,  it  is  clear  that  additions  were  made  continually  from  year 
lo  year ;  so  that,  though  Herod  began  the  restoration  in  the 
year  20  B.  C,  as  a  whole  it  was  literally  true  that  the  temple 
was  "built  in  forty  and  six  years," ^^  as  the  Jews  affirmed  unto 
Jesus.  But  the  end  was  not  yet,  for  the  work  was  continued 
up  to  A.  D.  64,  just  six  years  before  the  destruction  of  the 
temple  by  the  Roman  soldiers  under  Titus.  And  even  when 
Vespasian  made  his  invasion  of  Palestine  to  subdue  the  Jews 
in  their  revolt,  Herod's  great-grandson,  Herod  Agrippa  II, 

»Mn^xv,  11, 1.  1*76.  XV,  11,  2,  3.  '6Johnii,20. 


466  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Test  anient. 

was  engaged  in  expensive  preparations  to  "raise  the  holy 
house  twenty  cubits  higher."  ^^  But  the  Koman  army  burned 
down  the  temple  on  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  August  10,  A.  D.  70. 

Near  the^same  time  Herod  rebuilt  the  temple  of  the  Samar- 
itans, who  also  were  his  subjects,  "out  of  a  desire  to  make 
the  city  more  eminent  than  it  had  been  before,  but  principally 
because  he  contrived  that  it  might  at  once  be  for  his  own 
security  and  a  monument  of  his  magnificence."  "  He  is  also 
credited  with  having  erected  a  monument  over  the  royal  tombs 
at  Jerusalem,  after  having  attempted  to  rob  the  dead  of  their 
treasures,  "  such  as  furniture  of  gold  and  precious  goods  that 
were  laid  up  there."  ^^ 

He  was  not  always  loyal  to  the  emperor  who  had  appointed 
him  to  place  and  power  to  rule  the  Jewish  nation. 

Herod's  History  relates  that  on  one  occasion  he  had  made 
arac  er.  ^^^  upon  an  Arabian  prince  without  having  first 
received  the  imperial  consent.  This  was  a  very  great  offense 
to  Augustus  Caesar,  who 

"Asked  no  more  than  this  one  question,  both  of  Herod's  friends  that 
were  there,  and  of  his  own  friends  who  were  come  from  Syria ;  [namely]. 
Whether  Herod  had  led  an  army  thither  [into  Arabia]?  And  when 
they  were  forced  to  confess  so  much,  Caesar,  without  staying  to  hear  for 
what  reason  he  did  it,  and  how  it  was  done,  grew  very  angry,  and  wrote 
to  Herod  sharply.  The  sum  of  this  epistle  was  this:  'That  whereas  of 
old  he  had  used  him  as  his  friend,  he  should  now  use  him  as  his  subject.'  "  ^^ 

In  race,  Herod  was  an  Idumzean ;  in  religion,  a  Jew ;  but 
he  was  a  heathen  in  practice,  and  a  monster  in  character. 
Extremely  suspicious  and  jealous  in  disposition,  he  was  quick 
to  resent  or  avenge  any  supposed  wrong  with  death,  when  re- 
lating to  himself  or  his  royalty.  Crafty  in  his  schemes,  he 
was  arbitrary  and  despotic  in  the  exercise  of  his  kingly  power. 
But  to  none  of  his  subjects  was  he  so  mercilessly  cruel  as  to 
the  members  of  his  own  family  and  their  friends  whom  his 
barbarity  had  so  completely  alienated  in  their  feelings.     Jo- 

"TTara,  V.  1,5.  "^n<.  xv,  8,  5.  18/6.  xvl,  7, 1.  '9/6.  xvl,  9,3. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    467 

sephus  informs  us  that  Herod  had  nine  wives,**  and  on  the 
merest  suspicion  of  treachery  he  put  Mariamne,  his  favorite 
and  worthiest  one,  to  death ;  ^^  also  her  grandfather  Hyrcanus  ;^ 
also  her  brother  Aristobulus ;  ^  also  his  own  three  sons,  Aris- 
tobulus,  Alexander,^  and  Antipater;  the  last  being  executed 
by  his  order  when  Herod  himself  was  on  his  death-bed,  just 
five  days  before  he  died.  ^  And  to  add  to  his  infamy,  he  called 
together  the  principal  men  of  his  kingdom,  whom  he  shut  up 
in  the  hippodrome  at  Jericho,  where  he  was  ill,  with  a  view  to 
their  massacre,  giving  orders  that  after  his  own  death  they  all 
should  be  slain,  in  order  that  the  distress  and  lamentation 
which  would  be  national  on  their  account,  should  seem  to  the 
people  to  be  "  the  honor  of  a  Tnemorable  mourning  at  his  {ownl 
funeral  /"  "^  But  the  order  was  never  executed.  '^  The  king 
had  assumed  to  himself  the  title  "  Herod  the  Great,"  while  it  is 
obvious  that  he  was  so  great  in  nothing  as  in  crimes.  The 
characterization  of  this  royal  wretch  was  but  just,  said  to 
have  been  given  by  Augustus  Caesar,  knowing  the  king  was  a 
Jew  and  had  slain  his  third  son  when  on  his  death-bed :  "  It 
is  hetter  to  he  Herod) s  hog  than  to  he  his  sonP^  ^ 

In  view  of  the  facts  narrated  by  the  Jewish  historian  Jo- 
sephus,  Avho  was  a  contemporary  of  the  Evangelists,  it  is  very 
easy  to  understand  and  very  difficult  to  disbelieve 

,  ,       .   ,  "^  §319.  Herod 

the  truth  of  the  story  respecting  Herod's  procedure  and 
toward  the  infant  Jesus  at  Bethlehem.  Apart 
from  the  sacred  narrative,  Josephus  leaves  no  rational  ground 
from  which  to  dispute  the  distinct  statement  that  Herod  did 
"seek  the  young  Child  to  destroy  him."^  The  sufficient  mo- 
tive was  realized  when  the  Magi  came  to  Jerusalem  and  asked 
of  Herod  himself:  "Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews?" 
That  inquiry  aroused  the  king's  jealousy,  so  that  he  and  the 

«o  Wars,  i,  28,  4;  Ant.  xvil,  1,  3.  ^^Ant.  xv,  7,  4;  Wars,  1,  22,  4,  5. 

2»^n<.  XV,  6,  2,close.  23i6.  xv,  3,3.  2* /6.xvi,ll,  7;  Wars,  11, 11,  6,  close. 

»^n«.  xvil,  7,1;   TFars,  1, 33,  7,  8.  «9^n<.xvll,  6,  5;   TTars,  1,  38,  6. 

^  Ant.xvW,  8,2;  TFors,  1,  33,  6. 

28  "Melius  est  Herodls  porcum  esse  quam  flllum,"  Macroblus,  8aturnal,  i\,  ^. 

«»  Matt.  11, 18. 


468         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

city  were  filled  with  consternation;  for  "when  Herod  the  king 
heard  it,  he  was  troubled  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him."  ^  A 
brief  review  of  the  facts  narrated,  will  render  this  conclusion 
obvious. 

Only  two  Evangelists  advert  to  the  circumstances  of  Christ's 

nativity,  mentioning  Herod  by  name,  designating  his  royalty, 

o^^«  -nr-         and  locating  his  realm.      Matthew   writes  of 

§  320.  King  ° 

Herod  "  Bethlehem  of  Judaea  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 
ospe .  i-^jj^g."3i  g^jj^;^  Luke  cites  other  interesting  facts 
which  occurred  "in  the  days  of  Herod  the  king  of  Judaea."*^ 
The  time  being  thus  associated  with  the  birth  of  Jesus,  Herod 
the  king  is  conclusively  identified  for  all  the  purposes  of  his- 
tory. King  Herod  being  thoroughly  aroused  respecting  the 
supposed  danger  of  his  losing  his  throne  by  reason  of  this 
recent  royal  birth,  he  naturally  calls  together  the  chief  priests 
and  scribes,  and  makes  careful  inquiry  of  them  ''^  where  Christ 
should  be  born."^  The  next  step  is  to  engage  the  Magi  as 
detectives  to  discover  and  report  to  him  the  Child  who  was 
"born  king  of  the  Jews,"  under  the  pretense  that  Herod 
would  also  come  and  worship  him.  He  said :  "  Go  and  search 
out  carefully  concerning  the  young  Child,  and  when  yc  have 
found  him,  bring  me  word  that  I  may  come  and  worship 
him  also."*^  The  purpose  of  the  assassin  is  adroitly  con- 
cealed under  the  pretense  of  a  desire  to  worship  his  supposed 
supplanter!  The  depth  of  this  treacherous  insincerity  is 
revealed  and  attested  by  the  sequel.  The  Magi  do  not  return 
to  Herod,  and  his  scheme  of  secret  service  fails.  Thereupon 
"  Herod  was  exceeding  wroth,  and  sent  forth  and  slew  all  the 
male  children^  that  were  in  F>ethlehem  and  all  the  borders 
thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  younger,  according  to  the 
time  which  he  had  carefully  learned  of  the  wise  men."  This 
account  of  Herod  by  the  Evangelist  is  not  only  consistent  with 
itself  in  its  cumulative  character,  but  accordant  with  the  char- 
acteristics of  Herod  as  represented  by  the  Jewish  historian. 

8"Matt.  11.  3.  31 //j.  11,1.  82  Luke  1,5.  88  Matt.  11,  4.  84  7/,.ii,  g. 

35  i6. 11,  16.    The  gendei'  In  Greek  Is  masculine:    wdpras  toiJs  iraldas. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    469 

There  is  no  known  reason  in  the  history  of  the  facts  narrated 
by  Josephus  in  his  characterization  of  Herod  the  Great  but 
compels  our  belief  in  Matthew's  statement  of  this  circum- 
stance, which  is  but  a  mere  detail  in  Herod's  life  and  reign. 
To  reject  both  without  a  suflS.cient  reason  would  be  highly 
irrational,  if  not  absurd. 

II.  The  Second  Generation  of  the  Herods. 

Three  Sons  and  Successors  of  Herod  the  Great. 

ARCHELAUS— PHILIP  II— ANTIPAS. 

Objection  has  been  made  against  the  accuracy  of  the  his- 
torical New  Testament  on  the  ground  that  the  sacred  writers 
designate  the  Herodian  princes  by  one  set   of 

^  ...         §321.    "Herod" 

names,  but  secular  historians  by  others  which  the 

are  assumed  to  be  correct.  The  synoptists  uni- 
formly call  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee  "Herod,"  while  Josephus 
and  other  accredited  historians  call  him  "Antipas."  It  is 
thence  inferred  that  the  Evangelists  betray  an  ignorance 
of  the  persons  and  names  of  the  royal  family,  and  histor- 
ically erred,  and  must  have  written  in  a  later  period  than  is 
commonly  claimed.  Now,  not  only  is  the  case  not  proved, 
but,  upon  the  contrary,  the  criticism  is  invalidated  by  the 
facts.  It  will  be  seen  that  both  classes  of  writers  are  unquali- 
fiedly correct  in  designating  the  house  of  the  Herods  just  as 
they  have  done. 

a)  It  should  be  carefully  noted  that  the  appellation 
"Herod"  was  not  the  personal  name  of  any  one  prince,  but 
the  family  name  of  all  the  princes ;  the  surname  of  four  gen- 
erations of  the  Herodian  house  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  New  Testament.  Accordingly,  written  in  full,  the  proper 
names  of  the  several  princes  were  Herod  Archelaus,  Herod 
Antipas,  Herod  Philip  II,  Herod  Agrippa  I,  and  Herod  Agrippa 
II.  Such  is  the  historical  fact.  Now,  so  far  from  proving  a  dis- 
crepancy between  the  secular  and  sacred  writers,  and  raising 
thereupon  a  presumption  against  these  Scriptures  as  being  un- 


470         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

historical,  the  case  raises  a  powerful  presumption  in  their 
favor.  That  is,  the  usus  being  found  to  be  entirely  correct, 
there  is  the  necessary  implication  that  the  Evangelists  were 
the  contemporaries  of  the  facts  which  they  relate,  and  were 
perfectly  understood  by  those  addressed  of  that  age  without 
explanations.  An  historian  would  be  perfectly  understood  in 
writing  the  surname  Washington,  without  any  historical  rea- 
son to  prefix  the  personal  name  George. 

P)  But  the  objection  alleged  fails  fatally  when  it  claims  to 
be  founded  on  fact,  that  secular  writers  use  one  set  of  names 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  names.  The  case  of  Antipas  is 
cited  in  illustration,  whereas  it  proves  the  very  contrary  of 
that  claimed.  Josephus,  as  well  as  the  apostles,  was  a  sub- 
ject of  the  Herodian  government,  and  presumably  knew 
critically  the  names  of  the  rulers  of  whom,  as  an  historian,  he 
had  so  much  to  write.  He  names  this  tetrarch  both  "Herod" 
and  "Antipas"  interchangeably;  and  even  takes  pains  to 
explain  the  identity  of  the  person  so  named.  He  says :  "  Now 
as  the  ethnarchy  of  Archelaus  was  fallen  into  a  Roman 
province,  the  other  sons  of  Herod  [the  Great,  viz.],  Philip  and 
that  Herod  who  was  called  Antipas.''^  ^  Luke  mentions  this  te- 
trarch as  "Herod,"  and  "Herod  the  tetrarch,"  and  as  "Herod 
the  tetrarch  of  Galilee"  in  the  same  chapter,^  while  Josephus 
repeatedly  calls  him  "Herod  the  tetrarch,"^  and  "Herod  the 
tetrarch  of  Galilee,"^  and  "that  Herod  who  was  called  Anti- 
pas."^ The  identification,  therefore,  is  perfect  as  regards  the 
person,  the  official  title,  the  political  geography,  and  Luke's 
references  and  names  are  proved  to  be  strictly  historical. 

Herod  the  Great  was  especially  favored  by  Augustus  with 

the  privilege  of  bestowing  his  realm  upon  his  children  by  will, 

subject  to  the  approval  and    confirmation    of 

Sons  and       Cassar.*^    After  Herod's  death  the  three    sons 

His  Kingdom,    j^gj^j^JQjjg^j  j^  ^\^q  y^m^  and  Others  of  the  royal 

household,  presented  themselves  before  the  emperor  to  have 

»  Warn, n, 9,1.  'J  Ooxpelill,  1,  19.  »»  Ant.  xviii,  2,  3;   TFars,  1,  33,  7;  11,  9,  6, 

s»>ln<.  xvlU,  7,  1,  2.  *o  Wars,  il,  9,  I.  «/6.1,  33,  8. 


Jewish  TIulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    471 

their  several  appointmeiits  ratified  by  imperial  authority,     Jo- 

sephus  records : 

"  So  Caesar,  after  he  heard  both  sides,  dissolved  the  assembly  for  the 
time  ;  but  a  few  days  afterward  he  gave  one-half  of  Herod's  kingdom  to 
Archelaus  by  the  name  of  ethnarch  [i.  e.,  ruler  of  a  people  in  a  princi- 
pality], and  promised  to  make  him  king  afterwards,  if  he  rendered 
himself  worthy  of  that  dignity;  but  as  to  the  other  half,  he  divided  it 
into  two  tetrarehies  [each  equal  to  one  fourth  of  a  province],  and  gave 
them  to  the  other  two  sons  of  Herod ;  the  one  of  them  to  Philip  [II]  and 
the  other  to  Antipas."  *^ 

Tacitus  made  note  that 

"  On  the  death  of  Herod  a  man  by  the  name  of  Simon,  without 
waiting  for  the  authority  of  the  emperor,  seized  the  sovereignty.  He, 
however,  was  punished  for  his  ambition  by  Quintilius  Varus,  the  gov- 
ernor of  Syria;  and  the  nation,  reduced  to  submission,  was  divided  in 
three  portions  between  the  sons  of  Herod."  ^ 

Herod's  kingdom  covered  all  Palestine,  including  Idu- 
maea,  and  upon  his  death  was  divided  among  his  three  sons 
as  indicated.  Taken  in  the  order  of  their  ages,  Archelaus 
was  made  ethnarch  of  one-half  of  Herod's  kingdom,  and 
included  Samaria,  Judaea,  and  Idumsea,  which  he  ruled  for  ten 
years,  from  B.  C.  4  to  6  A.  D.  Herod  Philip  II  was  appointed 
tetrarch  of  one-fourth  of  the  realm  located  in  Northeastern 
Palestine,  and  included  Bataneea,  Trachonitis,  and  Auronitis 
[Gaulonitis],  and  parts  of  Jamnia.^  Herod  Antipas  became 
tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Peraea,^  and  included  the  remaining 
fourth  of  the  original  territory. 

There  exists  a  coin  struck  by  Philip  II  for  his  principality, 
which  furnishes  an  incontestable  proof,  verifying  the  histor- 
ical veracity  of  both  Josephus  and  the  Evangel-  §323.  Numis- 
ists  in  styling  Herod  Philip  II  "a  tetrarch,"  and  matic Evidence, 
"tetrarch  of  Ituraea."  It  bears  the  following  superscrip- 
scription  and  legend,  namely : 

Obverse:  "Tiberius  Augustus  Cfesar;" 
Keverse :  "  Of  Philip,  Tetrarch  ;" 
with  the  legend,  L  A  Z,  or  37,  the  year  of  our  Lord's  Crucifixion.''^ 

«  Wars,  11,  6,3;  comp.  Ant.  xvil,  8, 1;  11,  4.  *^  Hist.  Rom.  v,  9. 

M^n^xvll,  1,  3;  xvli,  8,  1;  11,4.  « /^,.  xvll,  1,3;  xvll,  8, 1;   Wars.  1,83,7. 

^•Obv:   Ti^epio^  Se/3a<rroc  Kattrap.      Rev:  ^iXtTTTroi;  TeT[papxov]. 


472         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Another  coin  is  in  existence,  which  was  struck  by  Herod 
Antipas  during  his  rule  in  his  tetrarchy,  dating  in  the  year  in 
which  our  Lord  began  his  ministry.     It  reads  thus : 

Obverse:  "  Of  Herod  the  tetrarch." 

Reverse:  "Tiberias,  the  Capital  of  the  Tetrarchy." 

It  also  bears  a  palm-branch  and  the  legend  "  L  A  T"  or  [331].*^ 

II.    Second  Generation  of  the  Herods. 
HEROD  ARCHELAUS:  (B.  C.  4-6  A.  D.) 
This  son  was  the  eldest**^  of  the  three  who  succeeded  Herod 
the  Great  in  the  rule  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.      The  mother 
„„^.    .    ^       of  Archelaus  was  Malthake,  a  Samaritan  woman. 

§324.  Arche-  ' 

laus  and  his  With  the  example  of  his  father  constantly  before 
narc  y.  ^^^  eyes,  it  was  natural  that  the  character  of  this 
prince  should  be  extremely  bad,  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  ruler. 
When  his  father's  will  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  emperor  at 
Eome  for  confirmation,  the  other  members  of  the  royal  family 
were  present  and  strongly  opposed  its  provision  to  make  Ar- 
chelaus a  king;  and  Augustus  denied  him  a  kingdom,  but 
accompanied  the  denial  with  a  conditional  promise,  which  was 
never  realized,  that  he  would  in  the  future  confer  upon  him 
that  dignity  if  he  should  prove  himself  worthy  of  it."*' 
Instead,  he  made  him  an  ethnarch,  and  for  his  realm  gave 
him  one-half  of  his  father's  territory,  embracing  Samaria,  Ju- 
daea, and  Idumaea.  But  Archelaus  at  once  usurped  kingly 
prerogatives  against  imperial  authority.  Soon  his  procedures 
produced  tumults,  revolt,  and  massacre.  In  less  than  a  decade 
he  had  more  than  justified  the  urgent  protests  of  the  family 
against  his  receiving  royalty ;  and  even  his  subjects  sent  am- 
bassadors to  Augustus  to  expose  his  cruelties,  who  charged 
him  with  having  usurped  the  prerogatives  of  a  sovereign,  "  in 
changing  the  commanders  of  the  army ;  in  setting  up  a  royal 
throne  before  he  was  made  king,  and  in  determining  law- 
suits, all  done  as  if  he  were   no   other   than   a  king;"  that 

«Obv:  Upwdov  Terpapxov.   Rev:  Ti^epea^.    See  Lewln,  Life  and  Epis.  of  St. 
Paul,  1, 17. 

*»  Wars,  I, '33,  7.  «^n<.  xvll,  11.  4;   TT'^ars.ll,  6,  3;  11,7,  3. 


Realms  of  ARCHELAUS,    ANTIPAS,    and  PHILIP  II. 


B.  C.  4-7.  D.  6.  B.  C.  4-T.  D.  39 


B.  C.  4-A.  D.  33. 


Jewish  Ruleks  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  Herods.    473 

Archelaus  had  slain  three  thousand  men  like  "sacrifices  .  .  . 
till  the  temple  was  full  of  dead  bodies;  and  all  this  was  done, 
not  as  an  alien,  but  by  one  who  pretended  to  the  lawful 
title  of  king."  «> 

When  in  the  act  of  celebrating  the  Passover  feast,  Arche- 
laus was  put  under  arrest  and  hurried  off  to  Rome  to  answer 
to  the  emperor  for  his  cruelties  and  crimes.  The  result  was, 
that  he  was  deposed  from  his  government  in  the  tenth  year  of 
his  ruling,  his  estates  were  confiscated,  and  his  person  was 
sent  into  perpetual  banishment  at  Vienna  in  Gaul^^  [France], 
and  his  territory  was  reduced  to  a  Roman  province.  It  was 
attached  to  Syria,  which  was  under  the  presidency  of  Quin- 
tilius  Yarns,  and  under  the  special  superintendence  of  Quirin- 
ius  (Cyrenius)  in  respect  to  its  financial  affairs  ^^  as  propraetor, 
and  under  the  immediate  government  of  Coponius  as  procura- 
tor.^ Quirinius  thoroughly  adjusted  the  new  relation  of 
Judaea  to  the  empire,  and  so  reconstructed  the  internal 
constitution  for  order  that  he  was  called  the  lawgiver^  of  the 
country. 

This  is  the  time  when  Quirinius  made  his  second  en- 
rollment of  Judaea ;  for  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  B.  C. 
4,  he  effected  the  registration  of  th.Q  population  ,•  and  now,  in 
A.  D.  6,  it  was  to  obtain  the  registration  of  the  property,^  as 
the  new  province  was  tributary  to  the  empire.  As  to  Coponius, 
it  is  the  first  time  that  the  procurator  was  imperially  invested 
with  absolute  power  over  life  and  death,  which  power  was 
then  withdrawn  from  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin^  at  Jerusalem. 
"  With  Archelaus  ended  all  remaining  semblance  of  the  mon- 
archy. The  scepter  had  departed  from  Judah."^'  It  is  under- 
stood that  Paul  was  born  A.  D.  2.*^ 


»yln<.  xvli,  9.  3-5;  TTars,  11,  7,  3.  6i^m<.  xvil,  13,  2;  TTars,  11,  6, 1,  2;  11,7,3. 

62  ^n/.  xvill,  1, 1 ;  xvlU,  2, 1 ;    Wars,  vll,  8, 1. 

^Anl.  xvill,  1,  1;  xvlU,  2, 1,  2;  Wars,  11,  8, 1. 

^  AiKaiod&rr)^ ,  Ant.  xvill,  1, 1. 

i^Ant.  xvill,  1,  1;   Wars,  11,  8, 1;  comp.  Luke  11, 1,  2,  and  Acts  v,  37. 

6«  Wars,  11, 8, 1 ;  John  xvill,  31;  xlx,  10, 

"Farrar.  ^sLewln. 


474         HiSTOKiCAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Upon  the  reduction  of  the  ethnarchy  to  a  Roman  province, 
Jud£ea  became  more  intensely  Roman  than  ever  before. 
Roman  money  circulated  freely  in  the  markets  of  the  Jews ; 
Roman  words  became  current  in  the  language  of  the  people ; 
Roman  monuments  were  constructed  in  honor  of  the  em- 
peror ;  Roman  buildings  were  erected  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  garrisons ;  cities  were  adorned  and  elevated  and  given 
Roman  names;  Betharamptha,  already  a  city,  was  "called 
Julias,  from  the  name  of  the  emperor's  wife ;"  the  tetrarch 
Philip  advanced  Bethsaida  to  the  dignity  of  a  city,  and  called 
it  Julias,  in  honor  of  Caesar's  daughter;  and  at  the  foun- 
tain of  the  Jordan  he  built  up  Paneas,  and  named  it  Caesarea- 
Philippi  in  honor  of  Caesar ;  while  Herod  Antipas  built  a  city 
on  the  west  side  of  the  sea  and  called  it  Tiberias,  in  honor 
of  the  Emperor  Tiberius.^^ 

A  single  reference  is  made  in  the  New  Testament  to  Herod 

Archelaus,  and  it  is  exceedingly  brief  and  incidental  to  the 

„  ^  narrative  given.     It  is,  however,  in  exact  ac- 

§325.  Arche-  ^  '  ' 

laus  and  the     cordancc  "with  his  character.   The  allusion  relates 
probably  to  the  close    of    the    first    year    of 
Christ's  infancy,  when  Joseph  and  Mary  were  returning  from 
Egypt,  intending  to  go  to  Galilee  by  way  of  Jerusalem : 

"  But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  was  reigning  over  Judaea  in  the 
room  of  his  father  Herod  [the  Great],  he  was  afraid  to  go  thither;  and 
being  warned  of  God  in  a  dream,  he  withdrew  into  the  parts  of  Galilee, 
and  came  and  dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nazareth."™ 

a)  Objection  has  been  made  with  reference  to  this  passage, 
that  Matthew  fell  into  error  in  saying  that  Archelaus  '■^was 
reigning,^''  an  expression  which  is  exact  only  when  applied  to 
a  king,  and  not  when  applied  to  an  ethnarch.  In  reply,  it  is 
to  be  said  that  the  usus  of  the  term  "reign"  at  that  time  must 
govern  in  any  such  case,  and  Matthew  wrote  in  strict  accord- 
ancy  with  the  usage  of  his  times.  It  is  not  fair  criticism  to 
determine  accuracy  or  error  of  a  writer  by  a  modern  restric- 

60  ^71^  xvlll,2, 1,  2.  w  Matthew  11,  22,  23. 


Jewish  Ruleks  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    475 

tion  put  upon  a  word  which  was  wholly  unknown  in  the  usage 
of  the  ancients.  The  exclusive  application  of  the  term  "reign" 
to  royalty  is  modern,  and  without  force  in  the  case  in  hand.* 
/8)  But  the  criticism  is  fallacious  in  that  Matthew  is  not 
making  an  original  statement  of  his  own  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility, but  he  has  merely  placed  on  record  what  the  report  was 
which  Joseph  heard:  "But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  was 
reigning  over  Judaea  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod,"  etc. 
To  record  aright  the  rumor  which  Joseph  "heard"  is  Mat- 
thew's part,  and  there  his  responsibility  ends.  Moreover,  the 
report  was  probably  based  upon  the  fact  that  Herod  the  Great 
had  provided  in  his  will  that  Archelaus  should  be  made  king 
of  Judaea  and  Peraea,  and  upon  the  opening  of  the  will  at 
Jericho,  the  soldiers  and  people  made  acclamation  and  con- 
gratulation  that  he  was  to  be  advanced  to  royalty.  But 
Caesar  did  not  approve  this  provision.^^ 

HEROD  PHILIP  II  (B.  C.  4-34  A.  D.) 
This  prince,  the  second  ruling  prince  in  age,  was  the  son  of 
Herod  the  Great  and  Cleopatra.^^    He  must  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  his  half-brother  Philip  I,  the  son 

°  ^  §326.  PhiUpII 

of    Herod    the    Great   and  Mariamne,   Herod's  the 

favorite  wife,  whom  he  slew.  By  his  will,  Mari-  Tetrarch. 
amne's  son,  Philip,  was  excluded  from  having  any  share  in  the 
government,  on  his  mother's  account.^  He  married  Herodias, 
and  they  had  one  child  named  Salome.  Herodias  afterwards 
eloped  with  Herod  Antipas.  Salome  seems  to  have  accompa- 
nied her  mother,  and,  at  the  instigation  of  the  mother,  de- 
manded the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.  Cleopatra's  son, 
Philip  II,  married  Salome,  who  was  his  niece.^  He  was  the 
tetrarch  of  Itureea,  whose  subjects  were  mostly  Syrians  and 
Greeks,  but  very  loyal  to  the  tetrarch.  In  secular  history, 
Philip  II  is  represented  as  a  peaceful  and  successful  ruler  of 

*See  this  principle  discussed  fully  under  Herod  Antipas. 

61  Wars,  1,  33,  8,  9;  Ant.  xvil,  8,  1,  2;  xvll,  6, 1. 

«^Ant.  xvil,  1,  8;  xvlll,  5,  4;  Wars,  1,  28,  4.       «»Wars,  1,  30,  7.       ^Ant.  xvlll,  5,  4. 


476         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

his  tetrarchy  for  a  period  of  thirty-seven  years,  and  was  "a 
person  of  moderation  and  quietness  in  the  conduct  of  his  life 
and  government,"  who  had  such  consideration  for  his  people 
that  whither  he  went  in  travel  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
tribunal,  ready  at  any  time  to  stop  and  ascend  the  seat  of  jus- 
tice to  adjudicate  cases  for  cause.  He  died  in  A.  D.  34,  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius.  He  was  much  be- 
loved, and  "when  he  was  carried  to  his  monument,  which  he 
had  already  erected  for  himself  beforehand,  he  was  buried 
with  great  pomp."®  He  left  no  child  to  succeed  him  in  the 
government,  and  his  territory  was  annexed  to  the  province  of 
Syria.  Philip  II  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  Jewish 
frince  who  had  images  struck  on  his  coins^ — a  circumstance 
which  was  remarkable  in  that  the  Jews  regarded  themselves 
prohibited  by  the  commandment  from  making  images  of  any 
kind  in  art. 

rm,   m  Four  persons  named   Philip  are   mentioned 

trarch  in  the    in  the  historical  New  Testament.     These  are — 
ospe  8.  ^  Philip  the  disciple  and  apostle  of  Christ ; " 

)8)  Philip  the  deacon  and  evangelist;*^ 
■y)  Philip  I,  son  of  Mariamne,  who  married  Herodias;^' 
S)  Philip  II,  son  of  Cleopatra,  the  "  tetrarch  of  Ituraea."  ^ 
Reference  is  made  also  to  the  city  built  by  this  tetrarch  in 
honor  of  the  emperor,  at  the  base  of  Mount  Hermon,  called 
Caesarea-Philippi,  which,  in  sacred  geogriiphy,  is  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  Caesarea-on-the-Sea.     It  was  at  or  near  this 
city,  in  the  northern  extreme  of  Palestine,  that  Jesus  engaged 
his  disciples  in  the  memorable   conversation  respecting  the 
opinions  entertained  of  himself,  when  he  asked: 

"  Whom  do  men  say  that  the  Son  of  man  is?  .  .  .  But  whom  say 
ye  that  I  am?  And  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said :  Tliou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him: 
Blessed   art  thou,   Simon  Bar-Jonah ;    for  flesh  and  blood    hath    not 

«u4?U.  xvlil,  4,  6. 

*«  Madden,  Jewish  Coins;  Lewin,  Life  and  Epis.  of  SI.  Paul,  1, 17. 

•7  Matt.  X,  3;  Acts  1, 13.  «8Acts  vi,  5;  vlil,  26-40;  xxl,  8. 

«» Mark  vl,  17.  'o  Luke  111,  1. 


Jewish  Eulers  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  Herods.    477 

revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  "And  he 
began  to  teach  them  that  the  Son  of  man  must  suffer  many  things,  and 
be  rejected  by  the  elders  and  chief  priests,  and  be  killed,  and  after  three 
days  rise  again."" 

No  other  references  are  made  in  the  New  Testament  to 
Herod  Philip  II,  "tetrarch  of  Ituraea." 

HEROD  ANTIPAS  (B.  C.  4-39  A.  D.) 

This  prince  was  the  youngest  son  of  Herod  the  Great  and 
Malthake.^  Josephus  says  that  the  mother  of  Herod  Antipas 
"was  of  the  Samaritan  nation,' whose  sons  were 

§328.  History 

Antipas  and  Archelaus ; "  "^  that  on  his  death-bed  of 

the  father  "altered  his  testament,     .     .     .     for       Antipas. 
he  appointed  Antipas,  to  whom  before  he  had  left  the  king- 
dom, to  be  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Peraea."^^    "And  he  made 
Antipas  tetrarch.""^ 

As  a  ruler  he  was  regarded  as  "sly,  ambitious,  luxurious, 
but  not  so  able  as  his  father."  '^  Hausrath  does  him  the  scant 
courtesy  of  calling  him  "a  wily  sneak."  Of  Antipas,  Jesus 
said:  "Go  tell  that  fox,  Behold  I  cast  out  devils.""  His  ad- 
ministration was  characterized  by  cunning  and  crime,  for  he 
was  intensely  selfish  and  utterly  destitute  of  principle.  In  the 
year  37  the  Emperor  Tiberius  died,  and  he  was  immediately 
succeeded  by  Caius  Caligula.  This  emperor  soon  discovered 
the  real  character  of  Herod  Antipas.  Moreover,  that  he  was 
disloyal  to  the  imperial  throne  was  evidenced  by  the  discovery 
that  Antipas  had  been  intriguing  with  one  Sejanus,  a  Roman 
officer  of  the  army,  and  had  confederated  with  Artabanus, 
King  of  Parthia,  against  the  Roman  Empire,  and  had  laid  in 
store  armor  for  seventy  thousand  men  of  war.  Upon  the 
proof  of  this  procedure  by  his  o^^^l  nephew,  Herod  Agrippa  I, 
who  was  the  devoted  friend  of  the  emperor,  Caius  Caligula,  in 
the  year  39,  "took  away  his  tetrarchy  and  gave  it  to  Herod 

'»Matt.  xvl,  13-17;  Mark  vlil,  27-31. 

"TTars,  1,  28,  4;  Ant.  xvll,  6,  1.  ^»Ant.  xvli,  1,  3.  7*76.  xvil,  8,  1. 

i^Wars,i,  33, 7.  'o  Scbiirer.  "  Luke  xlii,  32. 


478  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Agrippa,"  who  had  exposed  the  intrigue,  and  Antipas  was 
sent  into  perpetual  banishment  in  France  and  Spain,  where  he 
died.     On  this  point  Josephus  says : 

"  So  he  [i.  e.,  Caligula]  took  from  him  his  tetrarchy,  and  gave  it  by 
way  of  addition  to  Agrippa's  kingdom ;  he  also  gave  Herod  Antipas's 
money  to  Agrippa,  and  by  way  of  punishment  awarded  him  a  perpetual 
banishment,  and  appointed  Lyons,  a  city  in  Gaul,  as  the  place  of  his 
habitation."  "  So  Herod  died  in  Spain."  ^'  Dion  Cassius  adds:  "  Herod 
the  Palestinean,  having  given  a  certain  occasion  by  reason  of  his  broth- 
ers, was  banished  beyond  the  Alps,  and  his  portion  [estates]  of  the  gov- 
ernment confiscated  to  the  State."  ^^ 

"What  brought  to  pass  this  state  of  affairs  was  this.  Anti- 
pas  had  been  for  a  long  time  urged  by  his  wife  Herodias  to  go 
to  Eome  and  request  the  emperor  to  bestow  upon  him  the 
kingly  crown.  He  was  extremely  envious  of  his  nephew, 
Agrippa  I,  who  had  suddenly  risen,  from  being  in  prison 
under  Tiberius,  to  receiving  a  kingdom  under  Caligula.  Anti- 
pas  had  deeply  offended  Agrippa  by  insulting  reflections  on 
his  former  condition,  before  royalty  had  been  bestowed  upon 
him.  Meantime  Agrippa  maintained  a  confidential  intimacy 
with  the  emperor,  and  kept  him  posted  regarding  these  move- 
ments and  projects  of  Antipas.  "When,  then,  Antipas  started 
for  Kome  in  quest  of  his  own  interests,  accompanied  by  his 
wife,  Agri]3pa  instantly  sent  his  freedman,  named  Fortunatus, 
to  Rome  also,  bearing  the  necessary  documents  in  proof  of  the 
accusations  to  be  made  against  Antipas;  and  Agrippa  followed 
in  a  few  days  further  to  confront  his  uncle  in  the  presence  of 
the  emperor.  Antipas  had  arrived,  and  was  having  his  first 
interview  with  Caligula,  when  Fortunatus  entered  into  the 
presence  of  the  emperor  and  placed  in  his  hands  the  letters  in 
his  possession.  Agrippa  arriving  very  soon,  and  all  the  accu- 
sations being  now  well  understood  by  all  parties,  he  challenged 
Antipas  to  deny  the  confederating  with  Sejanus  and  with 
Artabanus,  and  his  secret  storing  of  arms  in  perfidy  against 

KAnt.  xvlU,  7, 1,  2;  Wars,  11,  9,  6.  ^^Hist.  of  Rome,  B.  Iv,  Aug.  27. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  IIerods.    479 

the  imperial  government.     As  Antipas  could  not  deny  the 
accusations,  he  confessed  his  guilt.*' 

Turning  to  the  Scriptures,  Herod  Antipas  is  frequently  re- 
ferred to  in  the  first  two  Gospels  as  being  "  a  kinyj  "  whereas 
Josephus  distinctlv  states  that  kingship  was  the 

.     -  1,1  §329.  Antipas 

thmg  denied    him,  and  that  he  was  "made  te-  as 

trarch  "  in  his  government.  Criticism  accordingly  ^  '^^e- 
claims  that  this  discrepancy  in  the  writers  is  evidence  that  the 
Evangelists  erred.  Matthew  designates  Antipas  both  as  te- 
trarch  and  king  in  the  same  chapter.  Mark  invariably  calls 
him  a  king,  and  frequently  in  the  same  chapter.  Upon  the 
other  hand,  Luke  invariably  designates  him  as  a  tetrarch. 

Matthew  says:  "Herod  the  tetrarch  heard  the  report  concerning 
Jesus."  .  .  .  And  again:  "  The  king  was  grieved." *i  Mark  says: 
"The  king  heard  thereof;"  "and  the  king  said  unto  the  damsel;" 
"  and  she  came  straightway  with  haste  unto  the  king ; "  and  "  the  king 
was  exceeding  sorry  ; "  and  "  the  king  sent  a  soldier  of  the  guard, "^^  q^^q 
Luke,  however,  says:  "  Herod  being  tetrarch  of  Galilee  ;  "  "  Herod  the 
tetrarch  being  reproved  by  him;"  "Now  Herod  the  tetrarch  heard  of 
all  that  was  done;"  and  "  Manaen,  the  foster-brother  of  Herod  the 
tetrarch."  ^ 

Now,  it  is  obvious  that  this  frequency  of  the  title  "king'' 
was  not  a  matter  of  inadvertance,  but  of  design,  in  the  sacred 
writers,  and  there  must  be  some  good  reason  for  its  use.  The 
case  demands  an  explanation.  Even  some  eminent  scholars 
seem  to  have  felt  embarrassed,  prior  to  investigation,  perhaps.* 
At  any  rate  the  only  justifying  reason  for  the  Evangelists' 
usage  in  employing  the  terms  "king"  and  "tetrarch"  inter- 
changeably, is  the  etymological  reason.  As  in  the  case  of 
Archelaus  '-'■  reigning''''  in  his  father's  stead,  so  here  in  the  case 
of  Herod  Antipas  and  the  cognate  appellation  "king."  We 
have  only  to  difference  the  modern  idea  and  usus  from  the 

*AIford  says:  "  Herod  was  not  king  properly,  but  only  tetrarch."  Westcott 
says :  "  He  was  called  king  by  courtesy."  Farrar  says :  "  It  is  only  popularly  that 
he  is  called  king."  Whedon  says  that  he  was  called  king  "  In  compliance  with 
custom." 

w^n^.  xviii,  7, 1,  2.  siMatt.  xiv,  1.  9.  S2  Mark  vi,  14,  22-27. 

MJjuke  ill,  1,  Terpapx^t^;  Terpdpxv^,  ill»  19;  Ix,  7;  Acts  xill,  1. 
31 


480         HisTOEicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ancient  to  have  the  sufficient  explanation.  For  we  noiv  apply 
this  appellative  exclusively  to  royalty,  whereas  at  that  period 
it  applied  not  only  to  a  sovereign,  but "  in  a  general  and  lower 
sense  it  applied  equally  to  a  prince,  ruler,  viceroy,  and  the 
like^ "  ^  '■Ho  a  king's  son,  a  prince,  or  any  one  sharing  in  the 
government,  .  .  .  and,  after  Augustus,  to  any  great  man^^ 
Josephus  himself,  indeed,  who  so  constantly  designates  Herod 
Antipas  as  having  been  made  "tetrarch"  by  his  father's  will, 
employs  this  usage  when  he  says  that  his  father  "sent  also  for 
his  testament  and  altered  it,  and  therein  made  Antipas  hingT  ^ 
The  ancient  usus  in  distinction  from  the  modern  beinff  con- 
sidered,  the  difficulty  at  once  disappears. 

Herod  Antipas  was  twice  married ;  first  to  the  daughter  of 
Aretas,  an  Arabian  king  of   Petraea.     Nevertheless,  he   in- 
trigued with  Herodias,  who  was  then  the  wife  of 

§330.    Baptist  °  .  ' 

and  Herod  Philip  I,  the  son  of  Mariamne,  in  whose 

n  ipas.  jjouse  Antipas  was  a  guest.^  Antipas  and  Hero- 
dias eloped  together,  although  both  were  married  at  the  time. 
Herodias  was  a  granddaughter  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  sister 
of  Herod  Agrippa  I.  Now  the  scandalous  conduct  of  Antipas 
and  Herodias  is  pointedly  referred  to  in  the  three  Sjmoptic 
Gospels  which  cite  the  reproof  administered  by  John  the 
Baptist  to  the  tetrarch  Herod  Antipas.  "  For  John  said,  It  is 
not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  thy  brother's  wife ; "  and  Luke 
adds:  "Herod  [Antipas]  the  tetrarch  being  reproved  by  him 
for  Herodias,  Philip's  wife,  and  for  all  the  evils  which  he  had 
done,  added  yet  this  above  all,  that  he  shut  up  John  in 
prison."^* 

From  the  time  that  Herod  Antipas  had  slain  the  Baptist, 
this  crime  haunted  his  conscience.  When,  then,  he  heard  of 
the  miracles  done  by  Jesus,  "  he  was  perplexed,  because  it  was 

*See  chap.  Iv,  $$  69-76,  and  Herodias  In  this  chapter,  5$343-345. 

8«  Robinson's  Greek  Diet,  of  N.  T.,  BacriXei/?-  and  ^affikeiiw. 

86  Llddell  and  Scott,  Or.  Diet.,  1883,  BofftXeyw.  8«  Wars,  1,  32  7,  and  1,  33,  8, 

f'lAnt.  xvlll,  5, 1;  xvlil,  5,  4. 

MMatt.  xlv,  3;  Mark  vl,  18;  Luke  ill,  19. 


Jewish  Kulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    481 

said  of  some  that  John  had  risen  from  the  dead."  "And 
Herod  [Antipas]  said:  John  have  I  beheaded,  but  who  is  this 
of  whom  I  hear  such  things?"     "This  is  John 

^  §331.  Jestos 

the  Baptist;  he  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  there-        and 
fore    mighty  works   do   show   forth    themselves       ^  ^^^^' 
in  him," ^    Jesus  said  of  Antipas :   "Go  ye  and  tell  that  fox. 
Behold  I  cast  out  devils,  and  I  do  cures  to-day  and  to-morrow, 
and  the  third  day  I  shall  be  perfected."  "* 

During  the  trial  of  Christ  before  Pilate,  Herod  Antipas 
was  at  Jerusalem,  When  Pilate  came  to  understand  that 
Jesus  was  from  Galilee,  the  territory  and  realm  of  Antipas,  "he 
sent  him  to  Herod"  as  belonging  to  his  jurisdiction.  "And 
when  Herod  saw  him,  he  was  exceedingly  glad;  for  he  was 
desirous  to  see  him  of  a  long  season,  because  he  had  heard  many 
things  of  him,  and  hoped  to  see  some  miracle  done  by  him." 
But  when  Christ  declined  to  answer  any  questions  of  curiosity 
for  Herod's  gratification,  the  tetrarch  wasoffended,  and  "Herod 
with  his  men  of  war  set  him  at  naught,  and  mocked  him,  and 
arrayed  him  in  a  gorgeous  robe,  and  sent  him  again  to  Pilate. 
And  the  same  day  Pilate  and  Herod  were  made  friends  to- 
gether ;  for  before,  they  were  at  enmity  between  themselves."  ^^ 
This  is  the  last  glimpse  we  have  of  Herod  Antipas  in  the  his- 
torical New  Testament.  When  he  was  deposed  and  banished, 
as  already  cited,  the  second  generation  of  the  rulers  of  the 
house  of  the  Herods  passed  out  of  history. 

Ill,  The  Third  Generation  of  the  Herods. 
HEROD  AGRIPPA  I  (A.  D.  37-44). 

Prince  Agrippa  was  the  son  of  Aristobulus  and  Bernice, 
and  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,     He  was  born 

S  332   His 

B,  C.  10,  and  died  A,  D.  44,     He  was  the  child       Life  as 
of  two  first-cousins,  and  he  was  himself  married      aPrmce. 
to  his  own  cousin,  the  daughter  of  an  aunt,  Avho  again  mar- 
ried an  uncle.  ^    Josephus  calls  him  "Agrippa"  and  "Agrippa 

89  Matt,  xlv,  2, 10;  Luke  ix,7  ,  9.  «0Luke  xlll,  32. 

91  Luke  xxill,  6-12;  coinp.  Acts  Iv,  27.  »«  Wars,  1,  28, 1. 


482         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  Great  ;"^^  but  in  the  New  Testament  he  is  known  onl}^  b}' 
the  surname  "  Herod,"  or  "  Herod  the  king."  He  was  educated 
at  Rome,  as  were  most  of  the  Herodian  princes.  He  grew  up 
to  be  a  young  man  of  gracious  manners,  of  kindly  spirit  usually, 
with  great  powers  of  eloquence,  and  quite  vain  withal.  In 
religion,  Agrippa  was  a  zealous  rather  than  a  devout  Jew,^  at- 
tentive to  the  "  tithe  of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin,"  but 
neglectful  of  "the  weightier  matters  of  the  law — judgment, 
mercy,  and  truth."  He  seems  to  have  had  much  personal  mag- 
netism, and  was  keenly  alive  to  popularity.^  At  Rome, 
Agrippa  formed  a  warm  friendship  with  Prince  Caius  ( Gains) 
Caligula  who  was  heir-apparent  to  the  imperial  throne;  a 
friendship  which  subsequently  turned  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  Agrippa. 

A  surprise  of  fortune  arose  out  of  this  intimacy.     As  these 

two  friends  were  riding  out  together  in  a  chariot  one  day, 

Eutychus,  a  freedman,   was   charioteer.     In  the 

§333.  Agrippa  ^  '  ' 

and  course  of  confidential  conversation,  Agrippa  dra- 

aigua.  niatically  stretched  out  his  hands  and  said  to 
Caligula  that  he  wished  that  old  Tiberius  would  die,  that 
Caligula  might  assume  the  purple  and  the  crown.  The  freed- 
man, overhearing  the  remark,  reported  it  to  his  master,  the 
Emperor  Tiberius,  who  at  once  ordered  Agrippa  put  in  chains 
and  incarcerated  in  prison.  The  order  was  executed,  Agrippa 
still  wearing  his  princly  robe  among  the  criminals  of  the  State. 
This  humiliation  was  endured  by  Agrippa  about  six  months, 
when  Tiberius  died,  and  Caligula  immediately  succeeded  him 
as  emperor.  Soon  after  the  imperial  funeral,  Agrippa  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  the  imperial  palace  of  Caligula.  Hav- 
ing shaved  and  changed  his  robe,  he  presented  himself  before 
the  emperor,  his  friend,  wlio  at  once 

"  Proceeded  to  put  a  diadem  upon  Agrippa's  head,  and  appointed 
him  to  be  a  king  of  the  tetrarchy  of  [his  uncle]  Philip;"  "also  .  .  . 
changed  his  iron  chain  for  a  gold  one  of  equal  weight,"  which  he  hung 

93^7i<.  xvli,  2,  2;  xvlU,  5,  4.  9*i6.xlx,6, 1,2;  xlx,7,  8.  96  Acts  xU,  1-3. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  IIerods.    483 

about  Agrippa's  neck.  And  Agi-ippa  afterwards  "  hung  it  up  within  the 
limits  of  the  temple  at  the  treasury  [at  Jerusalem]  that  it  might  be  a 
memorial  of  the  severe  fate  he  had  lain  under,  ...  a  demonstration 
how  the  greatest  prosperity  may  have  a  fall,  and  that  God  sometimes 
raises  what  is  fallen  down;  .  .  .  for  this  chain  thus  dedicated,  af- 
forded a  document  to  all  men  that  King  Agrippa  had  once  been  bound 
in  a  chain  for  a  small  cause,  but  recovered  his  former  dignity,  and  was 
advanced  to  be  a  more  illustrious  king."  ^  The  Senate  also  gave  him  the 
honorary  position  of  praetor. 

In  the  second  year  of  Caligula's  reign,  Agrippa  requested 
leave  of  the  emperor  to  return  home  to  Palestine  and  take 
possession    of    his    kingdom.      Permission    was 

^  .  8  334.  Agrippa 

granted,  and  Agrippa  sailed  on  the  Mediterranean  and 

in  the  usual  course  by  way  of  Alexandria  in  °^^  *^' 
Egypt.  At  this  time  the  Jews  and  Greeks  of  the  city  were  in 
unpleasant  relations  with  each  other.  When  the  Greeks  saw 
this  new  Jewish  king,  accompanied  by  his  body-guard,  exploit- 
ing much  gold  and  silver,  they  mocked  his  royalty  with  mean- 
est insults.  They  engaged  a  naked  idiot  boy,  named  Carabas, 
who  was  the  butt  of  the  street  boys,  placed  on  his  head  a  crown 
of  paper,  clothed  him  in  mat-cloth,  and,  with  a  stick  in  his 
hand  to  represent  a  scepter,  and  with  a  body-guard  composed 
of  the  gamins  of  the  city,  they  derided  the  new  king  on  the 
stage.  Not  so,  however,  at  his  liome ;  for  when  Agrippa  reached 
his  own  subjects  in  Palestine,  the  Jews  were  astonished  to  see 
him  returning  with  all  the  honors  of  royalty,  and  received  him 
with  every  evidence  of  satisfaction. 

In  accordance  with  his  promise  in  taking  leave  of  the 
emperor  at  the  Capital,  Agrippa,  having  organized  and  estab- 
lished his  kingdom,  returned  to  the  imperial  city. 

°  '  f  J      §335.  Retuma 

It  was  about  the  time  that  Caligula  developed  to 

unmistakable  signs  of  incipient  insanity,  demand-  °'^®* 

ing  that  he  should  be  universally  deified  throughout  the  empire 
and  be  adored  as  a  god,  and  that  all  men  should  swear  by  his 
name.  He  filled  his  Jewish  subjects  with  consternation  and 
horror  when  he  ordered  Petronius  from  Syria  to  place  a  gilded 

»6  A  )tf.  xviil,  6,  10, 11 ;  xlx,  6,  1. 


484         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

statue  of  the  emperor  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  temple  at 
J  erusalem,  to  be  worshiped ;  for  when  they  submitted  to  be- 
come subjects  of  the  empire,  they  were  guaranteed  all  their 
national  and  religious  liberty  and  rights.  An  embassy  com- 
posed of  the  principal  men  of  Alexandria,  with  the  eminent 
Philo  at  their  head,  went  to  Rome  to  protest  and  persuade 
Caligula  to  desist  from  such  an  inexpressible  wrong,  Caligula 
refused  them  his  presence,  and  bade  Philo  "  begone."  *  Petro- 
nius  marched  an  army  to  Jerusalem  to  compel  submission.  At 
Ptolemais,  the  Jews  flocked  by  the  ten  thousand  to  petition 
the  Syrian  prefect  not  "to  violate  the  laws  of  their  fore- 
fathers ;"  but,  if  he  persisted  in  carrying  out  the  imperial  order, 
he  should  first  kill  them,  and  then  do  what  he  was  resolved 
upon  doing.  Petronius,  touched  with  their  loyalty  to  their 
religious  convictions,  promised  to  write  to  the  emperor  in  their 
behalf.^^ 

Meantime  Agrippa  had  reached  Pome,  and  furnished,  in 
honor  of  his  friend  Caligula,  a  magnificent  banquet ;  and  when 
the  emperor  was  full  of  wine,  and  Agrippa  had  drunk  to  his 
health,  Caligula,  under  a  generous  impulse,  proposed  in  re- 
turn,— 

"  All  that  I  have  bestowed  upon  thee  that  may  be  called  my  gifts,  is 
but  little.  Everything  that  may  contribute  to  thy  happiness  shall  be  at 
thy  service,  and  that  cheerfully,  and  so  far  as  my  ability  will  reach" — 
"thinking  that  he  would  ask  for  some  large  country,  or  revenues  of 
certain  cities."  "Agrippa  replied:  Since  thou,  O  my  Lord,  declarest 
such  is  thy  readiness  to  grant  that  I  am  worthy  of  thy  gifts,  I  will  ask 
nothing  relating  to  my  own  felicity,  .  .  .  but  I  desire  somewhat 
which  may  make  thee  glorious  for  piety,  .  .  .  and  may  be  for  an 
honor  to  me  among  those  tliat  inquire  about  it,  .  .  .  that  thou  wilt 
no  longer  think  of  the  dedication  of  that  statue  which  thou  hast  ordered 
to  be  set  up  in  the  Jewish  temple  by  Petronius."** 

This  appeal  was  successful.  Nevertheless,  Petronius,  for 
having  so  far  disobeyed  the  imperial  command  as  to  intercede 
against  the  order  given  him,  which  he  failed  to  obey,  was  now 
ordered  to  commit  suicide ;  but  the  order  was  delayed  at  Rome 

*Flaccum,  ^J  5,  8.  w  Ant.  xvlil,  8, 1-6.  ^Jb.  xvili,  8, 1-9. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    485 

for  a  short  time,  and  in  the  meantime  Caligula  died  by  the 
dagger  of  an  assassin,  a  tribune  named  Chasrea,  whom  the 
emperor  had  outrageously  insulted.     This  was  in  A.  D.  41. 

The  weak-minded  Claudius,  who  had  been  the  laughing- 
stock of  the  Roman  court,  now  came  to  the  front  for  the  suc- 
cession.    Through  the  friendly  offices  of  Herod 

^    .  .  "^  §336.  Agrippa 

Agrippa  I,  who,  with  adroit  diplomacy,  used  his  and  ms 
influence  with  the  Senate,  this  man  was  made  °^  °°^* 
emperor.  His  pre-eminent  services  were  recognized  "as  am- 
bassador to  the  Senate,"  and  to  the  soldiers.  As  his  return  for 
his  elevation  to  the  imperial  succession  in  the  house  of  the 
Csesars  and  the  empire  of  the  world,  Josephus  again  states 
that — 

"  Claudius  confirmed  the  kingdom  of  Agrippa  which  Caius  [Caligula] 
had  given  him,  and  therein  commended  the  king  highly.  He  also  made 
an  addition  to  it  of  all  that  country  over  which  Herod  [the  Great],  who, 
was  his  grandfather,  had  reigned  ;  that  is,  Judaea  and  Samaria."  "  More- 
over, he  bestowed  on  Agrippa  his  whole  paternal  kingdom  immediately, 
and,  besides,  added  to  it  those  countries  that  had  been  given  by  Augustus 
to  Herod  [Philip  II]  ;  namely,  Trachonitis  and  Auranitis,  and  still,  be- 
sides these,  the  kingdom  which  was  called  the  kingdom  of  Lysanias. 
This  gift  he  declared  to  the  people  by  a  decree,  but  ordered  the  magis- 
trates to  have  the  donation  engraven  on  tables  of  brass,  and  to  be  set 
up  in  the  Capital."  ^ 

Such  in  brief  is  the  story  of  the  attainment  of  the  crown 
and  kingdom  of  his  grandfather,  Herod  the  Great,  by  Herod 
Agrippa  I.  But  he  was  made  to  feel  that,  after  all,  his  do- 
minion was  but  a  dependency  upon  the  empire  which  domi- 
nated the  nations  which  it  included.  Being  of  Idumsean  origin, 
it  is  related  that  on  one  occasion,  at  the  Feast  of  the  Taber- 
nacles, the  lesson  of  the  Law  for  the  day  was  read:  "Thou 
shalt  in  any  wise  set  him  king  over  thee  whom  the  Lord  thy 
God  shalt  choose.  .  .  .  Thou  mayest  not  set  a  stranger 
over  thee  which  is  not  thy  brother."  Remembering  that  he 
was  of  foreign  stock,  and  so  recognized  by  his  brethren,  though 
the  Idumaeans  had  been  Jews  for  more  than  a  hundred  years, 

^Ani.  xlx,  5, 1 ;  Wars,  11, 11,  5 


486         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

he  burst  into  tears  before  them  all ;  and  the  people  sympathiz- 
ingly  said :  "  Fear  not,  Agrippa,  thou  art  our  brother."  For 
the  Law  also  required :  "  Thou  shalt  not  abhor  the  Edomite, 
for  he  is  thy  brother.  .  .  .  The  children  that  are  begotten 
of  them  shall  enter  into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord,  in  their 
third  generation."  Agrippa's  case  met  these  conditions,  and 
he  was  therefore  entitled  to  the  proposed  consideration.^*" 

Agrippa  I  made  his  residence  mostly  at  Jerusalem,  and 
commenced  building  impregnable  walls  to  fortify  the  city. 
But  Marsus  Vibius,  noAV  prefect  of  Syria,  ordered  its  discon- 
tinuance on  the  mere  ground  of  his  suspicion.  The  king,  like 
all  the  Herods,  was  fond  of  ostentatious  displays.^"^  He  had  once 
invited  a  number  of  friends,  who  were  petty  kings  contiguous 
to  his  own  realm,  to  be  his  guests  and  enjoy  his  hospitality  at 
the  city  of  Tiberias,  where  royal  spectacles  were  to  be  wit- 
nessed. Vibius  came  also  from  Syria.  Agrippa  and  the  five 
kings  thought  to  do  him  honor,  and  went  forth  in  a  chariot 
about  seven  furlongs  to  meet  the  prefect.  But  Yibius,  being 
again  suspicious  of  the  real  intent  of  this  gathering,  m?,de  an 
affront  to  every  one  assembled,  by  peremptorily  ordering  the 
five  kings  to  proceed  at  once  and  quietly  to  their  respective 
homes.^^ 

There  is  numismatic  evidence  in  existence  of  this  sovereign's 
reign,  which  completes  the  historicity  of  his  kingdon.  It  con- 
sists of  a  coin  struck  at  Caesarea  by  Herod  Agrippa,  which 
reads : 

Obverse ;  Agrippa  the  Great,  Lover  of  Caesar. 
Reverse :  Csesar-on-Port-Sebaatos.* 

There  are  two  points  of  contact  between  the  Evangelist 
Luke  and  the  historian  Josephus  in  their  narratives,  and  two 
points  of  unpremeditated  coincidence.     These  relate  to  the 

*Obv.:  BASIAETS  MEFAS  AFPinnA  *IA0KAISEP.  Rev.:  KAISEP  H 
SEBASTO  AIMENI.  Se/Saerror  (Bebastos)  was  tbo  standing  Greek  word  for 
Augustus,  a  title  assumed  by  several  emperors;  e.  g.,  Acts  xxv,  21,  25.  "  Cumanus 
took  one  troop  of  horsemen,  called  the  troop  of  Scbaste,  out  of  Ccesarea."  (  Wars,  11, 12,  5.) 

looDeut.xvil,  16;  xxlll,  7,  8.  wi^nt.xlx,  7,  2,5.  i<» /6.  xix,  8,  1. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  IIerods.    487 

kingship  and  the  death  of  Herod  Agrippa  I.  Luke's  state- 
ment is  to  the  effect  that  "Herod  the  King"  afflicted  the 
Cliurch,  beheaded  James,  brother  of  John,  and 

'  '  '  §337.  Agrippa  I 

imprisoned  Peter,  "because  he  saw  it  pleased  and 

the  Jews."     The  record  of  the  story  is : 

"  Now  about  this  time  Herod  the  king  put  forth  his  hands  to  afflict 
certain  of  the  Church.  And  he  killed  James  the  brother  of  John  with 
the  sword.  And  when  he  saw  that  it  pleased  the  Jews,  he  proceeded  to 
seize  Peter  also,  .  .  .  intending  after  the  Passover  to  bring  him 
forth  to  the  people,  .  .  .  but  prayer  was  made  earnestly  of  the 
Church  for  him."  ^o^ 

Now,  the  beheading  of  James  is  accordant  with  the  Talmud 
in  the  Mishna:  "The  ordinance  of  putting  to  death  by  the 
sword  is  as  follows:  The  man's  head  is  cut  off  with  a  sword,  as 
is  accustomed  to  be  done  hy  royal  command^  ^^  The  giving  to 
Herod  Agrippa  I  the  title  of  king,  with  the  implication  of 
royalty,  is  absolutely  and  historically  correct ;  but  it  would  be 
correct  only  for  the  brief  period  of  three  years ;  namely,  A.  D, 
41-44.  There  never  had  been  a  king  ruling  in  royalty  over 
Judaea  during  the  forty  years  previously,  and  never  since  those 
three  years ;  and  these  years  were  the  last  of  the  life  of  Herod 
Agrippa  I,  called  also  "  Agrippa  the  Great,"  ^°^  the  grandson  of 
Herod  the  Great,  who  was  king  of  all  the  land  of  Palestine 
from  37  to  4  B.  C. 

Agrippa,  his  deputies,  and  other  dignitaries  of  his  kingdom, 
were  assembled  at  Caesarea,  at  the  seaside,  to  celebrate  the 
games  at  a  festival,  and  to  offer  vows  for  the 

°  .  §  338.  The 

safety  and  prosperity  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  Death  of 
Early  in  the  morning  of  the  second  day  of  tne  ^^pp^  • 
celebration.  King  Agrippa  presented  himself  to  the  people  clad 
"in  a  garment  made  wholly  of  silver  and  of  a  texture  truly 
wonderful."  Josephus  says  that  when  the  sun's  rays  touched 
his  dress,  the  reflections  shone  out  with  amazing  splendor. 
The  people  shouted  "that  he  was  a  god,"  and  "the  king  did 

108  Acts  xil.      10*  Professor  Lumby's  note,  iw  ioco.      »o5^/ii.  xvli,  2,  2;xviii,  5, 4. 


488  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

neither  rebuke  them  nor  reject  their  impious  flattery."  After 
five  days  "  he  departed  this  life,  being  in  the  fifty-fourth  year 
of  his  age."^'*  Luke,  upon  the  other  hand,  says  of  King 
Agrippa : 

"  He  went  down  from  Judaea  to  Csesarea,  and  tarried  there.  .  .  . 
And  upon  a  set  day  Herod  arrayed  himself  in  royal  apparel  and  sat  on 
the  throne,  and  made  an  oration  unto  them;  and  the  people  shouted 
saying,  The  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  a  man.  And  immediately  an 
angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him,  because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory  ;  and  he 
was  eaten  of  worms,  and  gave  up  the  ghost."  ^"^ 

The  points  of  accordance  between  these  two  independent 
writers  is  something  remarkable.  They  agree  injmany  par- 
ticulars, and  conflict  in  none ;  and  what  one  in  brevity  omits, 
the  other  supplies  in  matters  of  detail.  Josephus  was  writing 
an  historical  account  of  Herod  Agrippa  I,  but  Luke  was  writ- 
ing an  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  Church,  and  incident- 
ally refers  to  Agrippa's  death.  Accordingly,  Luke's  reference 
is  the  briefer,  yet  sufficiently  full  to  be  germane  to  the  end 
had  in  view.  An  analysis  of  the  two  writings  yields  some  in- 
teresting parallels  of  mutual  confirmation.  Both  authors 
mention  that  Agrippa  went  to  Caesarea,  where  he  spent  some 
time.  Josephus  relates  that  it  was  a  festival  occasion,  when 
games  were  exhibited  in  honor  of  Caesar,  which  circumstances 
Luke  naturally  omits ;  Luke,  on  the  other  hand,  relates  that 
"Agrippa  sat  on  his  throne  and  made  an  oration  unto  them," 
circumstances  which  Josephus  omits  to  mention.  Luke  indi- 
cates that  in  the  public  occasion  there  was  "a  set  day"  when 
Agrippa  appeared  before  the  people;  Josephus  says  that  it 
was  on  the  "second  day  when  he  appeared  in  the  theater"  to 
the  multitude.  Luke  makes  mention  of  a  large  assembly  of 
"the  people,"  whom  Agrippa  addressed;  Josephus  explains 
that  there  was  a  gathering  of  "  the  principal  persons  of  dig- 
nity throughout  the  province."  Luke  says  that  "  Herod  arrayed 
himself  in  royal  apparel ;"  while  Josephus  describes  his  robes 
as  "  made  wholly  of  silver  and  of  a  contexture  truly  wonder- 

'"« lb.  xix,  8,  2.  >07  Acts  xll,  9,  21-23. 


Chalcis  o 


KINGDOM  OF 
HEROD  ACtRIPPA  IL  ^"«» 


Jewish  Ruleks  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  IIerods.    489 

ful."  Luke  says  that  the  effect  of  this  surprising  spectacle 
was  such  that  the  "people  shouted;"  Josephus  says  that  the 
king's  appearance  was  "  so  resplendent  as  to  spread  a  horror 
[awe] -over  those"  that  beheld  it.  Luke  says  that  they  cried 
out,  "The  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  a  man;"  Josephus  says 
that  they  cried  out,  one  in  one  place  and  another  from  another, 
"He  is  a  god."  Luke  implies  that  the  king  accepted  their 
homage  "because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory;"  Josephus  says 
that  "he  did  not  rebuke  them,  nor  reject  their  impious 
flattery."  Luke  says  that  he  was  smitten  of  an  angel  "and 
gave  up  the  ghost;"  Josephus  says  that  "after  five  days  he 
departed  this  life."  Josephus,  in  general  terms  as  an  historian, 
says  that  Agrippa  died  from  "a  pain  in  his  belly;"  but  Luke, 
as  a  careful  physician,  says  that  "he  was  eaten  of  worms." 
"What  two  witnesses  in  any  court  giving  independent  testi- 
mony would  agree  more  perfectly  in  the  recital  of  facts? 
And  what  is  most  remarkable  in  these  descriptions  is  not  the 
points  of  difference,  but  the  points  of  agreement  between 
them.  Josephus  the  historian  therefore,  again  and  in  an 
extraordinary  manner,  confirms  the  historicity  of  the  Evangel- 
ist Luke. 

IV.  Fourth  Generation  of  the  Herods. 
HEROD  AGRIPPA  II  (52-70  A.  D.) 

Considerable  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  distinguish- 
ing the  father  and  son,  as  they  bear  exactly  the  same  name, 
and  both  were  Jewish  kings.     Attention,  there- 

,        „      °     ,  §339.  The  Two 

fore,  IS  drawn  to  the  fact  that,  in  both  sacred  Agrippas 
and  secular  history,  these  two  personages  are  ^^  "^g^is 
known  by  different  appellations.  Outside  the  Scripture  the 
elder  is  called  Herod  Agrippa  I,  and  the  younger,  Herod 
Agrippa  II.  But  in  the  New  Testament  the  father  is  named 
either  "Herod,"  as  he  is  repeatedly  called  in  a  single  chapter 
or  "  Herod  the  king ;"  ^'^  whereas  the  son,  in  contradistinction 

108  Acts  xii,  1,6,  11,  1&-21. 


490  Historical  Evidence  op  the  New  Testament, 

from  his  father,  is  called  either  "Agrippa,"  or  "  King 
Agrippa."^°*  Both  were  kings,  and  were  known  by  the 
same  name ;  but  they  did  not  reign  at  the  same  time,  or  rule 
the  same  realm.  Herod  Agrippa  I,  as  was  Herod  the  Great  his 
grandfather,  was  king  of  all  Palestine  during  A.  D.  41-44 
and,  later,  Herod  Agrippa  II  was  king  of  about  one-third  of 
that  country  lying  in  the  northeast,  embracing  that  region  for. 
merly  known  as  the  tetrarchies  of  Philip  and  Lysanias,  which 
he  ruled  A.  D.  52-70.  As  to  Scriptural  incidents  associated 
with  each,  it  was  Herod  Agrippa  I  who  beheaded  James,  the 
brother  of  John,  and  imprisoned  Peter  whom  the  angel  deliv- 
ered by  night;""  but  it  was  Herod  Agrippa  II  who  was  present 
to  hear  the  masterly  and  courtly  address  of  Paul  at  Caesarea 
whom  the  apostle  mentions  as  "king"  and  "King  Agrippa," 
as  does  also  Luke  when  narrating  the  same  occasion."^  Herod 
Agrippa  I  died  at  Caesarea  in  A.  D.  44,  after  delivering  an 
oration  in  the  theater;  and  Herod  Agrippa  II  died  at  Rome 
in  private  life,  in  A.  D.  100,  in  the  third  year  of  Trajan's 
reign. 

The  great  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  son  of  Herod 

Agrippa  I,  was  but  seventeen  years  of  age  when  the  father 

died."2    He  was  born  in  A.  D.  27,  and  at  the 

§  340.  The  ' 

Youth  of  death  of  his  father  was  residing  at  Rome,  re- 
^^*  *  ceiving  his  education  under  the  patronage  of 
the  emperor.  "Now  Agrippa  the  son  of  the  deceased  was  at 
Rome,  and  brought  up  with  Claudius  Ca3sar."  This  emperor 
at  first  contemplated  placing  young  Agrippa  at  once  upon  his 
father's  throne  to  rule  all  Palestine ;  but,  better  counsels  pre- 
vailing, he  concluded  that  it  would  be  "a  dangerous  experi- 
ment for  so  very  young  a  man,"  who  was  without  experience, 
to  undertake  to  govern  "so  large  a  kingdom."  "So  Claudius 
made  the  country  a  Roman  province,  and  sent  Cuspius  Fadus 
to  be  procurator  of  Judaea  and  of  the  entire  kingdom."  "^ 

109 Acts  XXV,  22,  23,  26;  xxvl,  27,  28,  32.  ""Acts  xll,  1-3. 

i"7b.  xxvl,  1,  2,  7, 19,  27;  xxv,  13,  22-24,  2«;  xxvl,  28,  32. 
»i»  Ant.  xlx.  9,  1.  11876.  xlx,  «,  2;  Wars,  11, 12, 1. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  IIerods.    491 

When  his  uncle  Herod,  King  of  Chalcis,  died  in  A.  D.  48, 
young  Agrippa  had  attained  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  age. 
Thereupon  "Claudius  set  Agrippa,  the  son  of 

^  &     rr    )  §341.  Agrippa 

Agrippa,  over  his  uncle's  kingdom."      "  But  he  ii  and 

took  from  him  Chalcis  when  he  had  governed  °^^  ^' 

thereof  four  years,"  and  "removed  Agrippa  [II]  from  Chalcis 
to  a  greater  kingdom,"  embracing  the  former  tetrarchies  of 
Philip  and  Lysanias,  with  considerable  additions."^  All  the 
remainder  of  his  father's  kingdom  continued  as  a  Roman 
province  until  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  A.  D. 
70.  Herod  Agrippa  II  was  now  made  superintendent  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  manager  of  its  treasury,  with  i\il\ 
power  to  remove  the  high  priests  from  office  at  pleasure,  an 
authority  which  he  was  often  pleased  to  exercise,  as  also  did 
his  uncle  Herod  of  Chalcis  before  him.^^^  When  !Nero's  acces- 
sion to  the  throne  of  the  e.iipire  had  been  effected,  he  made 
an  imperial  gift  to  his  dominions  of  several  cities  and  fourteen 
villages."^  Agrippa  II  thereupon  had  a  coin  struck  in  honor 
of  Nero  bearing  the  following  representation : 

Obverse:  Nero  Caesar;  with  the  head  of  Nero  laureated. 
Reverse:  By  King  Agrippa,  Neronias;  within  an  olive  crown.* 

That  is,  Caesarea  Philippi  being  the  capital  of  his  kingdom, 
Herod  Agrippa  II  re-named  the  city  Neronias  in  honor  of 
Nero.  Josephus  says:  "About  this  time  it  was  that  King 
Agrippa  built  Caesarea  Philippi  larger  than  before,  and  in 
honor  of  Nero  named  it  Neronias."  ^^''  But  the  subjects  of  the 
younger  Agrippa  regarded  him  as  a  cold-blooded  and  arbitrary 
man,  and  did  not  entertain  for  him  the  love  which  they  had 

*Obv.:    NEPfiN  KAI.    Rev.:  EHI  BASIAE.  AFPinn.  NEPflNIE. 

In  June,  1891,  there  was  discovered  in  Si'a,  Hauran,  near  Damascus,  a  mon- 
umentallnscrlptlon  in  Greek,  in  honor  of  Agrippa  II,  which  reads:  BASIAETS 
MEFAS  *IAOKAIEAP  ET2EBHS  KAI  <l>IA0Pi2MAI0S="Great  King,  Lover-of- 
Csesar,  devout,  Lover-of-Rome. "  (  See  George  Adam  Smith's  Historical  Geogra- 
phy of  the  Holy  Land,") 

ii<ylr!<.  XX,  7, 1;  Fars,  il,  12,  8.  "s^n<.  xx,  1,  3;  xx,8,8. 

lie  lb.  XX,  8,  4.  117  lb.  XX,  9,  4. 


492  HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

for  his  father;"^  yet  he  was  recognized  as  well  skilled  in  all 
matters  relating  to  the  Jewish  law.^^^ 

It  is  now  in  place  to  indicate  the  points  of  concurrence  be- 
tween sacred   and   secular  history   touching  the   times   and 
person  of  Herod  Agrippa  II,  the  last  of  the  rulers 

§342.  Agrippa  ^  o     ir  J 

II  and  the  in  the  liouse  of  the  Herods.  It  is  mentioned  in 
cnptures.  ^^^  Acts  of  the  Apostlcs  that  there  was  a  special 
occasion  and  assembly  at  Caesarea-by-the-Sea.  Upon  the  ar- 
rival of  Festus  from  Rome  at  Csesarea,  the  capital  of  provincial 
Judaea,  to  assume  the  functions  of  his  office  as  procurator, 
Agrippa  came  hither  to  extend  his  royal  salutations  and  con- 
gratulations to  Festus,  and  witness  his  advancement  to  place 
and  power  in  the  Roman  government.^^  The  occasion  was 
celebrated  with  much  circumstance  of  pomp  and  display,  of 
both  a  civic  and  military  character.  That,  however,  which 
seems  to  have  centralized  all  interests,  was  a  man  of  great  dis- 
tinction who  was  a  prisoner  in  chains  on  Festus' s  hands,  con- 
cerning the  proper  disposition  of  whom  the  new  procurator 
desired  the  counsel  of  King  Agrippa  II.  The  king  himself  had 
no  authority  in  Caesarea.  His  mission  was  one  of  courtesy,  and 
his  participation  in  the  occasion  was  merely  advisory.  He  had 
heard  much  respecting  the  distinguished  prisoner  now  in 
chains,  and  was  curious  to  see  and  hear  his  eloquent  utterances. 
Accordingly  the  Apostle  Paul  was  brought  forth  at  Ca^sarea 
before  the  brilliant  assembly  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  province, 
and  Herod  Agrippa  II  and  his  sister,  the  princess  Bernice,  and 
invited  by  the  king  to  make  a  defense  of  his  Christian  faith. 
Luke  says:  "Now  when  certain  days  were  passed,  Agrippa 
the  king  and  Bernice  arrived  at  Caesarea,  and  saluted  Festus."  ^''^' 
This  visit  in  company  with  Bernice  has  been  called  in  ques- 
tion on  the  score  of  its  historicity  as  being  very  unusual ;  but 
it  finds  corroboration  in  that  it  was  the  custom  of  Agrippa  to 
make  visits  of  courtesy  and  ceremony  on  other  such  occasions. 
For  in  the  year  64  he  went  to  Beirut  to  salute  Gessius  Florus, 

"8  ^UU.  XX,  8, 11;  XX,  9,1.  "9  Acts  xxvl,  3. 

>20Acts  XXV,  13.  '*'  lb.  XXV,  13,  and  xxvi. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Hekods.    493 

when  he  assumed  the  procuratorship  of  Judaea ;  and  again  in 
66,  when  Tiberius  Alexander  became  prefect  of  Alexandria. 
With  regard  to  both  these  occasions,  Josephus  says  he  went 
"  to  Berytus  with  the  intention  of  meeting  Gessius,  the  Roman 
governor  of  Judaea/'  ^  Also,  "  about  this  time  King  Agrippa 
[the  II]  was  going  to  Alexandria  to  congratulate  Alexander 
upon  his  having  obtained  the  government  of  Egypt  from 
Nero."  ^  In  both  instances  King  Agrippa  was  accompanied 
by  his  sister  Bernice. 

King  Herod  Agrippa  II  was  the  last  reigning  prince  of  the 
house  of  theHerods.  In  the  closing  part  of  the  sixth  Christian 
decade,  when  the  Jews  made  their  final  revolt  against  the 
Roman  Empire,  Agrippa  urged  the  Jews  against  such  pro- 
cedure; and  when  the  issue  was  fully  determined  upon,  the 
king  joined  his  royal  forces  against  his  own  subjects.  Vespasian 
first  made  the  invasion  of  Palestine  with  the  imperial  army ; 
but  being  called  to  Rome  after  being  proclaimed  emperor,  he 
transferred  the  army  to  his  son  Titus  to  complete  the  campaign 
and  subjugation  of  the  Jews.  In  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  year  70,  the  Jewish  nation  was  destroyed,  the  temple  was 
burned,  and  the  survivors  were  expatriated.  King  Agrippa's 
kingdom  came  to  an  end. 

TV.  Princesses  of  the  House  of  Herod. 
HERODIAS— BERNICE— DRUSILLA. 
These  Jewish  princesses  were  not  themselves  Jewish  rulers, 
but  were  married  to  Jewish  rulers.     By  birth  they  belonged 
to  the  royal  house  of  the  Herods.     In  the  histor- 

£    1       TVT  §343.  The 

ical  part  of  the  JN  ew  Testament  these  princesses  Herodian 
are  named  as  associated  with  specific  incidents  "^cesses, 
the  mention  of  which  justifies  an  inquiry  as  to  the  historicity 
of  their  existence  and  character.  The  investigation  will  com- 
plete the  evidence  furnished  respecting  the  royal  house  of  the 
Herods,  and  yield  an  added  interest  and  evidence  to  the  an- 
tiquity and  authenticity  of  the  sacred  writings. 

>2a  Life  of  Josephus,  $  11.  i23  Wars,  11, 15, 1. 


494  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

I.  HEEODIAS. 
Herodias  was  granddaughter  of  Herod  the  Great  and  sister 
of  Herod  Agrippa  I.     She  first  married  Herod  Philip  I,  her 
full   uncle,  and  while  he  was  still  living  she 

§344.   Herodias  '  ° 

and  the  eloped  with  her  husband's  half-brother,  Herod 
ospe .  Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Peraea, 
while  his  wife  was  yet  alive.^^  The  first  two  Gospels  mention 
"  the  daughter  of  Herodias  "  ^  who  danced  before  the  festive 
party  of  nobles  when  celebrating  Antipas's  birthday,  but  do 
not  mention  her  name,  or  say  that  she  was  the  daughter  of 
Herod  Philip  I.  Josephus  witnesses  that  a  daughter  was  born 
of  the  first  marriage  with  Philip  I,  whose  name  was  Salome,^* 
who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  Herod  Philip  II,  the  te- 
trarch. He  also  states  that  Herodias,  being  a  Jewess  with  a 
child  born  to  the  first  marriage,  with  the  Jews,  was  a  bar  to  a 
second  legal  marriage.^^  Her  whole  conduct  in  this  matter  of 
elopement  was  an  aggravation  to  the  Jews,  particularly  unto 
John  the  Baptist,  the  pure  and  rugged  reformer;  and  the  in- 
tense indignation  aroused  was  deepened  by  the  fact  that  He- 
rodias and  Antipas  were  both  members  of  the  royal  family ; 
and  their  offense  was  "  sin  in  high  places,"  the  more  notorious 
in  that  Antipas  was  conspicuously  a  ruler  of  the  Jews,  who 
thus  defiantly  violated  the  Jewish  laws. 

The  scandalous  conduct  of  these  infamous  persons  is  cited 
in  all  the  Synoptic  Gospels;  as  also  tiie  reproof  administered 
to  them  by  John  the  Baptist  for  their  guilty  misconduct, 
Mark  mentions  the  occasion  calling  for  John's  strictures, 
which  was  "for  the  sake  of  Herodias,  his  brother  Philip's 
wife;  for  he  married  her.  For  John  said  unto  Herod,  It  is 
not  lavuful  for  thee  to  have  thy  'brother's  wlfeP  Matthew  also 
reports  the  same  circumstance  in  nearly  the  same  words, 
Luke's  testimony  is  briefer  and  broader:  "But  Herod  the 
tetrarch  being  reproved  by  him  for  Herodias,  his  brother 
Philip's  wife,  and  for  all  the  things  which  Herod  had  done."  ^^ 

>M^n<.  xvlll,  5, 1.       126  Matt,  xlv,  6;  Mark  vl,  22.       >«  Ant.  xvlU,  5,  4. 
i«Matt.  xlv,  4;  Deut.  xxv,  5;  Levlt.xvlil,  16;  xx,  21. 
isa  Matt,  xlv,  1-14;  Mark  vl,  14-29;  Luke  Hi,  lit.  20. 


Jewish  Rulees  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  Herods.    495 

The  Synoptic  Gospels  are  in  entire  accordance  with  each 
other  in  accounting  for  the  origin  of  the  Baptist's  reproof  of 
Herod  Antipas,  the  circumstance  which  led  up 

T    1      ,  •  T     1         ,  mi        •     T        §345.  Josephua 

to  John  s  imprisonment  and  death.  The  mde-  and  the 
pendent  testimony  of  Josephus  is  at  once  an  un-  "^^-^s® 
designed  but  significant  coincidence  in  history,  remarkably 
corroborative  of  the  story  of  the  criminal  and  incestuous  mar- 
riage of  these  parties  in  high  life.  For  Josephus  not  only 
fully  confirms,,  but  explains  in  detail  the  story  of  the  elope- 
ment, by  giving  a  circumstantial  account  of  how  it  was 
brought  about.  He  says  nothing,  and  probably  knew  noth- 
ing, respecting  the  reproof  administered  to  Antipas  as  the 
ground  for  the  tetrarch's  punishing  the  Baptist  with  imprison- 
ment and  death.  Either  in  ignorance  or  in  suppression  of  the 
fact,  Josephus  omits  mentioning  it,  but  attributes  the  defeat 
of  Herod's  army  by  the  Arabian  prince,  Herod's  first  father- 
in-law,  as  a  just  judgment  of  God  for  having  beheaded  John.^ 

II.  BERNICE. 
This  princess  was   the   eldest   daughter  of  King  Herod 
Agrippa  I,  the  sister  of  King  Herod  Agrippa  II,  and  the  wife 
of   that   Herod  who  was   the   kinof   of   Chalcis, 

°  '    §346.  Bernice 

"  who  was  both  her  husband  and  her  uncle."  and  her 
Connected  with  royalty  in  all  directions  by  blood  ^^^  ®^" 
and  marriage,  she  was  sometimes  called  a  "queen,"  although 
she  never  wore  a  crown.  She  is  described  as  a  woman  of  rare 
personal  beauty.  Tacitus  remarks,  "Queen  Bernice  at  that 
time  in  the  bloom  of  youth  and  beauty."^®  Her  husband  died 
in  the  year  48,  when  she  was  but  twenty  years  of  age.  Ac- 
cording to  the  testimonies  of  the  historians  of  those  times,  she 
retrograded  in  character,  and  acquired  a  bad  fame  in  her  rela- 
tions with  different  personages — Vespasian,  Titus,  and  even 
with  her  own  brother  Agrippa  11.^^  One  citation  in  proof  is 
sufficient.     Josephus  says  of  Bernice : 

"  She  lived  a  widow  a  long  time  after  the  death  of  Herod,  who  was 
both  her  husband  and  her  uncle.    But  when  the  report  went  out  that 

^^Ant.  xvlU,  5,  1,  2.  i^Hist.  11,  81. 

181  Life  0/  Josephus,  $  11;  Tacitus,  Hist.  11,  81;  Sueton.  Claudius,  28. 
32 


496         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

she  had  criminal  intercourse  with  her  brother,  she  persuaded  Polemo, 
who  was  king  of  Cilicia,  to  be  circumcised,  and  to  marry  her,  as  sup- 
posing that,  by  this  means,  she  would  prove  these  calumnies  to  be  false  ; 
and  Polemo  was  prevailed  upon,  and  that  chiefly  on  account  of  her  riches. 
Yet  did  not  this  matrimony  endure  long,  but  Berniee  left  Polemo,"  ^^ 
and  is  supposed  to  have  returned  to  the  house  of  her  brother. 

That  Berniee  was  accustomed  to  accompany  her  brother 

on  public  occasions  on  visits  of  salutations  has  been  already 

considered.     It  remains  to  be  remarked  that  she 

§347.  Berniee 

and  exerted   no  little  influence  on   political  affairs. 

^  ^'  This  was  illustrated  when  the  two  went  together 
to  Jerusalem,  and  succeeded  for  a  while  in  quieting  the  spirit 
of  rebellion  and  war  among  the  Jews,  who  had  been  terribly 
exasperated  by  the  illegal  procedures  and  cruelties  of  the 
Roman  procurator  Florus.  Having  placed  Berniee  in  a 
gallery  overlooking  the  multitudes,  Agrippa  made  an  address 
with  a. powerful  appeal;  and  "when  Agrippa  had  thus  spoken, 
both  he  and  his  sister  wept,  and  by  their  tears  repressed  a 
great  deal  of  the  violence  of  the  people."  ^^  When  she  went 
to  Caesarea  with  King  Agrippa,  the  princess  was  thirty-two 
years  old,  and  as  she  sat  at  King  Agrippa's  side,  ''blazing 
with  all  her  jewels,"  they  listened  to  the  apostle's  powerful 
address,  which  seems  to  have  greatly  moved  both  Festus  the 
procurator  and  King  Agrippa,  his  royal  guest.*** 

III.  DRUSILLA. 

Princess  Drusilla  was  the  youngest  of  three  daughters  of 

Herod  Agrippa  I,  and  was,  of  course,  the  sister  of  Agrippa  II 

and  Berniee.*^    She  was  but  six  years  old  when 

§348.  DrusUla  .     i     •       *     -r^ 

and  her       her  Toyal  father  died,  in  A.  D.  44.    This  princess 
arnage.      ^^^^^  ^  celebrated  beauty,  and,  being  a  Jewess, 
consented  to  marriage  with  Azizus,  King  of  Edessa,  upon  the 
express  condition  of  his  complying  with  the  required  cere- 
mony of  becoming  a  Jew.**     Josephus  relates  the  particulars : 

"While  Felix  was  procurator  of  Judsea  he  saw  Drusilla  and  fell  in 

^«.4n^  XX,  7,  3;    comp.  Tacitus,  Hist.    11,  81;     Sueton.  Ti7ms,  vll,  and  note; 
Juvenal.  Satires,  vl,  155-157. 

issn'ars,  11.  16.  1-5.  iMSee  $342. 

l».4  nt.  xvlll.  5.  4.  '»»/6.  XX,  7,  1,  2. 


Jewish  Kulers  of  the  Jews:  House  of  the  IIerods.    497 

love  with  hex* ;  for  she  did  indeed  exceed  all  other  women  in  beauty ; 
and  he  sent  to  her  a  person  whose  name  was  Simon,  one  of  his  friends ; 
a  Jew  he  was  and  by  birth  a  Oypriot  [i.  e.,  of  Cyprus],  and  one  who  pre- 
tended to  be  a  magician  ;  and  he  endeavored  to  persuade  her  to  forsake 
her  husband  and  marry  him ;  and  promised  that  if  slie  would  not  refuse 
him,  he  would  make  her  a  happy  woman.  Accordingly  she  acted  ill, 
and  because  she  was  desirous  to  avoid  her  sister  Bernice's  envy  [who 
was  ten  years  older  than  herself] ,  for  she  was  very  ill  treated  by  her  on 
account  of  her  beauty,  was  prevailed  upon  to  transgress  the  laws  of  her 
forefathers  and  marry  Felix.  And  when  he  had  a  son  by  her,  he  named 
him  Agrippa."  ^^^  The  mother  and  son  perished  in  the  eruption  of 
Mount  Vesuvius  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Titus,  A.  D.  79. 

As  Bernice  afterward  accompanied  Agrippa  to  Csesarea,  so 
now  Drusilla  went  with  her  husband  Felix  to  the  same  city, 
curious  to  see  and  hear  the  famous  prisoner,  the 

^  ^  '  8349.  DnisiUa 

Apostle  Paul,  whose  strange  history,  lofty  per-     and  the 

sonality,  and  marvelous  powers  of  eloquence,  had     dp^^^^'es- 

made  such  a  deep  impression  on  all  the  great  community  of 

friends  and  foes.     Luke  records  that — 

"  After  certain  days,  Felix  came  with  Drusilla  his  own  wife  who  was 
a  Jewess,  and  sent  for  Paul  and  heard  him  concerning  the  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  And  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness  and  temperance 
and  a  judgment  to  come, Felix  was  terrified,  and  answered:  Go  thy  way 
for  this  time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  thee  unto 
me.  He  hoped  withal  that  money  would  be  given  him  of  Paul  [as 
bribery  to  purchase  his  personal  freedom].  But  when  two  years  were 
fulfilled,  .  .  .  desiring  to  gain  favor  with  the  Jews,  Felix  left  Paul 
in  bonds."  ^^ 

It  is  important  to  keep  in  sight  in  this  connection  the 
origin  and  character  of  Felix,  the  procurator  of  Judaja 
History  represents  him  as  once  a  slave  in  E-ome, 

-^        ^  .   .  '   §350.  Felix 

that  he  had  been  freed  and  raised  to  position  and         her 

power  by  the  weak-minded  Claudius,^^  and  that 

in  his  government  he  evinced  all  the  low  instincts  of  a  slave^ 

Dr.  Farrar  says  that — 

"Felix  had  been  a  slave,  in  the  vilest  of  all  positions,  in  the  vilest 
of  all  epochs,  in  the  vilest  of  all  cities."  ^^  Tacitus  says:  "Antonius 
Felix  exercised  the  prerogatives  of  a  king  with  the  spirit  of  a  slave,  riot- 
ing in  cruelty  and  licentiousness"^'" — "who  supposed  he  might  perpe- 

i^A  nt.  XX,  7,  2.  i38Acts  xxlv,  24-27.  ^^Ant.  xx,  7. 1. 

>*)  Life  and  Work  of  Paul,  11,  341.  "» Hist,  v,  9 


498         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

trate  with  impunity  every  kind  of   villainy."  ^''^    Suetonius  says:    "He 
became  in  consequence  of  his  elevation  the  husband  of  three  queens.""^ 

At  the  time  Felix  left  Paul  in  bonds  at  Csesarea,  he  had 
been  recalled  to  Eome  by  Nero  to  answer  for  the  cruelties  and 
crimes  of  his  administration  in  Judaea. 

In  traversing  the  evidence  for  the  existence  and  authority 

of  the  Jewish  rulers  of  the  house  of  the  Herods  and  the  prin- 

§351  The      cesses,  in  all  the   historical   details  of   persons, 

Review.  places,  and  times,  we  have  the  statements  j)rin- 
cipally  of  two  independent  writers.  They  were  the  contem- 
poraries of  each  other,  and  evidently  the  contemporaries  of 
the  events  which  they  narrate.  The  one  was  a  Christian 
evangelist,  the  other  a  Jewish  historian;  the  one  a  friend,  and 
the  other  an  adversary  of  Christianity.  Both  were  residents 
in  the  land  whose  events  and  incidents  they  describe  Each 
wrote  in  entire  freedom  of  mind,  and  without  any  knowledge 
of  the  other,  yet  their  accordancy  and  accuracy,  even  to  the 
minutest  detail,  is  something  remarkable.  Can  two  other 
writers  of  equal  antiquity  be  named  who  parallel  each  other 
in  as  many  details?  Now,  it  is  obvious  that  no  writer  of  a 
later  date  could  have  mentioned,  often  casually,  occurrences 
of  special  character,  with  such  sharpness  of  circumstance, 
under  such  frequency  of  governmental  change  in  the  political 
geography  of  the  land,  in  part  and  again  in  whole,  involving 
such  complications  without  falling  into  errors,  as  did  Tacitus, 
Celsus,  and  Dion  Cassius,  who  lived  and  wrote  somewhat  later.* 
The  exact  relation  of  these  rulers  to  the  people  as  subjects, 
and  to  the  country  as  realms,  are  distinctly  and  accurately 
stated,  but  incidentally  to  another  end,  by  Luke ;  for  he  was 
merely  writing  biographical  memoirs  touching  the  beginnings 
of   Christianity,  while   Josephus   was  writing   a   methodical 

*  Tacitus  substantially  dates  the  death  of  Agrlppa  I  In  49  Instead  of  44 
(Annals  xll,  23);  Celsus  represents  that  It  was  "  Herod  the  tetrarch,"  Instead  of 
Herod  the  Great,  who  "sent  and  slew  all  tfie  infants,  Instead  ot  all  the  male  children, 
born  about  the  same  time"  (Orig.  contra  Cels.i,  58);  and  Dion  Casslus  confuses 
and  confounds  t)ie  rulers  of  the  Herodlan  family  (Hist,  of  Borne,  chapters  49, 
53,  55,  and  00). 

^*!iAnnals,  xll,  54.  ^**  Claudius,  28. 


Jewish  Rulers  of  the  Jews  :  House  of  the  Herods.    499 

histoiy  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  Evangelist  gives  certain 
main  facts;  and  every  essential  particular  is  confirmed  by 
Josephus,  whether  the  ruler  was  an  ethnarch,  a  tetrarch,  or 
king  over  a  part  or  the  whole  of  Palestine ;  or  whether  one  of 
the  several  Roman  procurators  who  ruled  in  his  time  was  in 
power  over  a  province.  Josephus  both  corroborates  and  sup- 
plements Luke's  record  of  persons  and  occurrences.  Luke's 
notices  are  mostly  of  personages  and  events  associated  with 
them  as  pivotal  occasions  in  the  early  history  of  the  Christian 
Church ;  while  Josephus  gives  the  circumstances  in  detail  as 
connected  with  the  Jewish  nation.  Josephus,  accordingly,  is 
quite  full  in  his  particularizations  respecting  him  who  was  the 
ruler,  when  he  began  to  rule,  the  boundaries  of  his  territory, 
the  contentment  or  contention  of  his  subjects,  the  principal 
events  occurring  under  his  government,  together  with  some 
account  of  the  end  of  his  government,  whether  recalled,  de- 
posed, or  by  death,  and  what  became  of  the  territory  during 
those  first  fifty  years  of  the  Christian  era.  Besides  this  con- 
firmation on  the  part  of  Josephus,  as  well  as  by  others — 
as  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  Dion  Cassius  at  given  points — there 
is  the  incontestable  substantiation  of  Luke's  statement  by 
numismatic  proof,  bearing  the  images  and  superscriptions 
upon  the  several  rulers'  coins,  struck  when  they  were  in 
power.  It  should  be  perfectly  obvious  that  no  spurious  writer 
could  possibly  produce  a  belief  favorable  to  such  writing,  or 
escape  detection  now  as  an  impostor,  if  he  wrote  of  events, 
rulers,  and  realms  in  that  remarkably  changeable  period.  Sci- 
entific investigation  can  neither  demand  nor  supply  better 
data  in  facts  for  historical  induction  than  are  to  be  found  in 
these  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  related  to  this  period. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  several  Herodian  princesses,  whose 
names,  character,  and  conduct  have  mention  on  the  sacred 
page.  There  is  no  error  in  matters  of  fact  in  the  record. 
Thus  by  all  these  minute  details,  so  circumstantially  but  inci- 
dentally introduced  by  the  Evangelist,  the  Book  of  Acts  is 
shown  to  be  strictly  historical. 


500 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


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Coins  of  the  Sevekal  Herods. 


COINS  OF  THE  SEVERAL  HERODS. 


Fig.  1.     Coin  of  Herod  the  Gkbat — King,  B.  C.  37-B.  C.  4. 

The  Obverse  side  or  face  of  the  coin  represents  a  helmet  with  cheek- 
pieces,  also  a  star  above,  and  the  censer  of  the  High  Priest.  The  star  is 
supposed  to  refer  to  Herod's 
conquest  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  censor  borne  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement — the  day  Her- 
od won  his  final  victory. 

The  Reverse  side  bears 
the  superscription :  HPftAOT 
BASIAEQS^  [Money]  of  Her- 
od  the  King,  and  the  monogram  P,  a  contraction  of  T/oiXxa\Koc-=the  value 
of  the  bronze  coin.  The  legend  L.  r.  indicates  the  third  year  of  Herod's 
reign,  vphen  the  coin  was  struck. 

Fig.  2.     Coin  of  Herod  Archelaus — Ethnarch,  B.  C.  4-A.  D.  6. 

Obverse:  HPfiAOT=  [Money]  of  Herod.  The 
device  is  a  leaf  and  a  cluster  of  grapes. 

Reverse:  EeNAPXOT=of  the  Ethnarch.  The 
device  is  a  helmet. 


Fig.  3,     Coin  of  Herod  Antipas — Tetrarch,  B.  C.  4-A.  D.  39, 

Obverse:  HPi^AOT  TETPAPXOT 
=of  Herod  the  Tetrarch.  The 
device  is  a  palm-branch,  and  the 
legend  L.  Ar=33,  i.  e.,  A.  D.  29. 

Reverse:  TIBEPIAS=Tiberias, 
the  capital  of  the  Tetrarchy,  writ- 
ten within  a  wreath ;  the  city 
built  and  named  by  Antipas  in  honor  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius. 


Fig.  4.     Coin  of  Herod  Philip  II. — Tetrarch,  B.  C.  4-A.  D.  34. 


Obverse  :  TIBEPIOS  2EBAST0S 
KAISAP=Tiberius,  Sebastos  [=Au- 
gustusj  Caesar,  whose  image  accom- 
panies the  superscription. 

Reverse:  *IAinnOT  TET[PAPXOT] 
=Philip  the  Tetrarch.  The  device 
is  a  temple  between  whose  columns  is  the  legend  L.  AZ=the  year  37,  for 
A.  D.  33. 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


Fig.  5.    Coin  op  Herod  Agrippa  I. — King,  A.  D.  37-44. 

Obverse:    BASIAETS    MEFAS   AFPinnAS   *IAOKAISAP=Agrippa   the 

Great,  King,  Lover  of  Csesar.  [See 
Josephus,  Ant.  xvii,  5, 1.]  The  head 
of  Agrippa  I. 

Reverse:  KAISAPIA  H  nPOS  [TQ 
SEBA2T0]  AIMENI=C8esai-ea-at-the 
Harbor  of  Sebaste= Augustus.  The 
figure  is  that  of  Fortune  holding  the  helm  of  a  vessel,  and  also  a  cornu- 
copia. 

Fig.  6.    Coin  op  Herod  Agrippa  II. — King,  A.  D.  50-100. 

Obverse:  NEPQN  KAI[SAP]=Nero  Csesar 
[the  Emperor],  vv^hose  head  accompanies  the 
superscription. 

Reverse:  EHI  BA2IAE.  AFPinn.  NEPfiNIE 
=  [Issued]    by   King  Agrippa    at    Neronias 
(=C8esarea  Philippi),  renamed  by  him  in  honor  of   Nero  about  A.  D. 
55,  on  receiving  considerable  accessions  to  his  dominion. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  JEWISH  NATION  IN  THE  TIMES  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT. 

I.  The  Condition  of  Jewish  Society. 

1.  Sectional  Differences. 

2.  Sectarian  Differences. 

3.  Eacial  Contentions. 

a)  Spirit  of  Insubordination. 
/3)  Disposition  for  Conspiracies. 
7)  Immorality  of  Conduct. 
II.  The  Destruction  of  the  Jewish  Nation. 

1.  False  Messiahs  and  Impostors. 

2.  Gospel  unto  all  Nations. 

3.  Beginning  of  Sorrows. 

4.  Signs  of  Warning. 

5.  Escape  of  the  Christians. 

6.  Retribution  on  that  Generation. 

a)  A  Bank  and  Wall  about  Jerusalem. 
/3)  City  compassed  round  on  Every  Side. 
7)  Tribulation  such  as  never  was  or  shall  be. 
5)  Children  dashed  to  the  Ground. 
e)  Not  one  Stone  left  upon  Another. 

The  Sacrifices  and  Oblation  cease. 

The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  burned. 

Jerusalem  Itself  made  Desolate 

The  Witness  of  the  Infidels. 

III.  They  Shall  Fall  by  the  Edge  op  the  Sword. 
Retribution  upon  that  Generation. 
The  Roman  Triumphal  and  Monument. 
A  Review. 
The  Prediction. 
The  Realization. 
The  Advantages. 
501 


Chapter  XYII. 

THE  JEWISH  NATION  IN  THE  TIMES  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT. 

§  362.  The  Jewish  Nation  in  the  Times  of  the  New  Testament. 

Upon  two  foundations,  the  law  of  Nature  and  the  law  of  Revelation,  de- 
pend all  human  laws. — William  Blackstone. 

There  never  was  found,  in  any  age  of  the  world,  either  religion  or  law 
that  did  so  highly  exalt  the  public  good  as  the  Bible. — Francis 
Bacon. 

I  find  more  sure  marks  of  authenticity  in  the  Bible  than  in  any  profane 
history  whatever. — Isaac  Newton. 

Young  man,  my  advice  to  you  is  that  you  cultivate  an  acquaintance  with 
truth,  and  a  firm  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  is  your  cer- 
tain interest. — Benjamin  Franklin. 

Let  us  cling  with  a  holy  zeal  to  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  as  the 
source  of  our  religion. — Joseph  Story. 

All  human  discoveries  seem  to  be  made  only  for  the  purpose  of  confirm- 
ing more  and  more  strongly,  the  truths  contained  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures. — Sir  John  Herschel. 

By  proving  the  Record  true.  Science  pronounces  it  Divine ;  for  who 
could  have  correctly  narrated  the  secrets  of  eternity  but  God  him- 
self? The  grand  old  Book  of  God  still  stands,  and  this  old  earth, 
the  more  its  leaves  are  turned  over  and  pondered,  the  more  it  will 
sustain  and  illustrate  the  Sacred  Word. — Professor  James  D.  Dana. 

It  is  impossible  rightly  to  govern  the  world  without  God  and  the  Bible. — 
George  Washington. 

If  we  abide  by  the  principles  taught  in  the  Bible,  our  country  will  go  on 
prospering  and  to  prosper.  My  heart  has  always  assured  me,  and 
reassured  me,  that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  must  be  a  Divine 
reality. — Daniel  Webster. 

Christ  predicted  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  overthrow  of  the 
Jewish  State,  and  the  forfeiture  of  its  rank  and  pi-ivilege  as  the 
seat  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  When  the  city  stood  in  all  its 
strength  and  splendor,  he  set  the  date  of  its  downfall  within  the 
lifetime  of  the  generation  then  on  the  stage. — Professor  George 
P.  Fisher. 

503 


504         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  sei-ve  Thee  shall  perish:  yea, 
those  nations  shall  be  utterly  wasted. — Isaiah. 

ARGUMENT. 
The  condition  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  the  time  of  Christ  described  with 
reference  to  its  differences  :  Racial,  Sectional,  and  Sectarian.  The 
morals  of  the  people  indicated  as  exampled  in  their  spirit  of  in- 
subordination, conspiracies,  and  other  immoral  conduct.  The 
utterances  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  respecting  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Jews,  predicting,  with  exactness  of  circumstan- 
tiality, the  destruction  of  the  temple,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
nation  and  its  religious  institutions,  which  would  be  accompanied 
with  untold  miseries  incurred  by  rulers  and  subjects  alike  within 
that  generation,  whose  greatest  crime  consisted  in  their  crucifixion 
of  their  own  Messiah  King. 

As  was  foretold,  false  Messiahs  arose  and  disappeared ;  signs 
of  warning  of  the  approaching  catastrophe  were  given  and  un- 
heeded ;  the  apostles  escaped  these  afflictions,  so  that  not  a  hair 
of  their  heads  perished  as  they  fled  to  the  mountains.  Then  began 
the  "  beginning  of  sorrows,"  that  "  great  tribulation,  such  as  was 
not  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  ;  no,  nor  ever  will  be."  This 
prediction  literally  fulfilled,  in  every  detail  given,  by  the  conquer- 
ing Romans  under  Titus  in  the  Christian  year  70.  Tlie  Prediction, 
the  Realization,  and  the  Advantages  accruing  to  mankind,  as  seen 
in  the  Retrospect  of  nineteen  centuries. 

1.  The  Character  and  Condition  of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of 

Jesus  Christ. 

2.  The    Destruction    of    their    Commonwealth,    and    the 

Wretchedness  incurred. 

3.  The  Prophecy,  the  Realization,  and  the  Advantages  to 

Mankind  accruing. 

I.  The  Condition  of  the  Jews. 

During  the  period  when  most  of  the  New  Testament  was 
written,  the  Jews  were  one  people  in  race,  in  religion,  in  in- 
stitutions,  and   in   customs.     For  centuries  the 

§353.  A  Nation  ' 

and  Jews  had  been  set  apart  as  the  chosen  people  of 

erarc  y.  Qq^^  through  whom  the  world  was  to  be  blessed ; 
the  recipients  of  God's  promises,  the  repositories  of  his  law, 
the  exemplars  of  the  only  true  religion  on  earth,  through  whom 
the  Messianic  Redeemer  was  to  descend  for  the  salvation  of 
mankind.  The  government  of  the  nation,  intended  to  be 
theocratic,  was  invested  in  a  hierarchy  located  at  Jerusalem, 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       505 

and  known  as  the  Great  Sanhedrin}  It  was  both  a  legal  and 
administrative  Senate,  called  in  the  New  Testament  "the 
Council,"  and  exercised  great  power  over  the  people  in  Pales- 
tine who  worshiped  in  the  temple,  and  also  exerted  no  little 
influence  upon  the  Jews  who  were  "  the  Dispersed  "  ^  abroad 
among  the  nations  who  worshiped  in  the  synagogues.  In  the 
Talmud  this  body  of  men  was  styled  '-'•  the  House  of  JudgmentP^ 
The  national  institution  at  Jerusalem  was  called  '-Hhe  Great 
Synagogue^^''  in  distinction  from  the  numerous  synagogues  of 
less  character  throughout  the  country  charged  with  the  care 
of  the  local  interests  of  the  Jews  in  that  community. 

Kabbinical  writers  refer  the  origin  of  this  institution  to 
the  Seventy  Elders  chosen  by  Moses*  for  his  assistance  in  the 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  Israel   in   the 

-r,  ,  .  ,      .  8  354.  Organi- 

wilderness.  But  this  rabbinical  account  of  the  zationofthe 
origin  is  quite  probably  mythical.  The  Sanhe-  ^^  ^  ^^' 
drin  was  organized  of  scribes,  and  elders  of  the  Church;  in 
number  seventy  or  seventy-one.  The  president  of  the  body 
was  called  JVasi.^  The  vice-president  was  styled  "  the  father 
of  the  House  of  Judgment^^  ^  who  sat  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  president;  and  the  next  lower  in  rank  was  the  '■'■wise 
man^'''''  who  prepared  on  both  sides  the  given  case,  and 
brought  it  before  the  Sanhedrin  for  trial.  He  sat  on  the  left 
side  of  the  president.  There  were  also  two  secretaries  or 
notaries,^  one  of  whom  recorded  the  reasons  for  acquittal, 
and  the  other  recorded  those  for  condemnation.  The  presi- 
dent, who  in  dignity  represented  the  civil  and  religious  inter- 
ests of  the  nation,  sat  on  a  platform,  with  the  vice-president 
on  his  right  hand,  and  the  referee  on  his  left.  The  notaries 
stood,  one  on  the  right,  and  the  other  on  the  left  of  the  presi- 

'rivnj  p'l'iri^D  ((7i;i'^Spioi'=Sanhedrln),  Tolinud,  Sanhedr.  1,  5,  the  supreme 
council. 

2Johnvll,  35.  ^P^ri'3 

4  Numb,  xi,  16,  17  (Sanhedr.  1,  6). 
^N'tyj.  a  leader,  in  Christ's  time  the  high  priest.  «rT  H'^  3K 

7  D^n  a  sage.  «  vyiTi  n31D 


506  HiSTOKICAL  EvroENCE  OF  THE  NeW  TeSTAMENT. 

dent.  Three  rows  of  disciples  sat  before  them.  The  members 
of  the  Sanhedrin — priests,  elders,  and  scribes — were  seated 
on  low  cushions,  in  a  semi-circle  according  to  age  and  learn- 
ing, so  that  all  could  be  seen  by  the  chief  officers. 

The  function  of  this  Senate  of  wisdom  and  learning  was 

legislative,  judicial,  and  administrative.      As  early  as  B.  C. 

47,  when  Herod  the  Great  was  yet  but  procura- 

§355.  Fvinction         '  .  J  r 

of  the  tor  of   Galilee,  he   was  summoned   before   the 

Sanhedrin  because  he  had  usurped  the  authority 
of  that  body  by  putting  men  to  death  f  a  circumstance  indi- 
cating that  at  that  time  they  claimed  and  possessed  the 
power  of  life  and  death.  But  when  Archelaus  was  deposed 
from  his  ethnarchy  and  banished  from  Judaea,  "  Coponius,  one 
of  the  equestrian  order  among  the  Romans,  was  sent  as  a  pro- 
curator, having  the  power  of  [life  and]  death  put  into  his 
hands  by  Ceesar."  ^^  The  Jews  claim  that  they  relinquished 
this  right,"  but  the  claim  is  probably  fictitious,  for  it  was 
made  a  matter  of  law.  To  Pilate  they  openly  confessed  in  ref- 
erence to  Jesus:  "It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any  man  to 
death."  The  Sanhedrin  had  the  power  to  arrest  a  supposed 
criminal,  and  to  try  and  condemn  him  as  worthy  of  death; 
but  they  could  not  execute  their  own  sentence  upon  him,^  for 
the  reason  that  they  had  been  deprived  of  that  power.  The 
case  of  Stephen  ^^  was  an  illegal  procedure,  as  was  also  the 
martyrdom  of  "James  the  Just,"  our  Lord's  brother.  Prob- 
ably both  were  put  to  death  during  an  interim  between  the 
death  of  Festus  and  the  arrival  of  Albinus,  when  there  was  no 
procurator  present  in  Judaea.^* 

The  place  where  the  Sanhedrin  sat  in  deliberation  is  called 
in  the  Talmud  Gazzith^^  which  was  a  hall  supposed  to  be 
„„^ „,       located  near  the  southeast  corner  of  one    of 

§356.  The  Place 

of  the  the  courts  of  the  temple;  but  sometimes  they 

met  at  the  house  of  the  high  priest.**     In  the 

time  of  Christ's  ministry   the   body  of  Sanhedrists   was  re- 

^Ant.  xlv,9,  4.       -^^Wars,  11,  8.  \;  Ant.  xvlll,  1, 1.  "rrt^  Abodah  Zara,  I.  8,  2. 

>2  Matt,  xxvl,  66;  John  xvlli,  31.  »»  Acts  vll.  i^  Ant.  xx,  9,  1,  2. 

>5  Sanhedr.  x.  i«  Matt,  xxvl,  3. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  .the  New  Testament.       507 

moved  from  the  temple,  and  was  located  elsewhere  on 
Mount  Moriah ; "  and  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Sanhedrin  met  at  Tiberias,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee.i« 

The  references  to  the  great  Sanhedrin  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  numerous.      Before  that  body  Jesus  was  indicted  on 
several  counts,  for  being  a  "  false  prophet,"  for 
uttering  "  blasphemy,"  and  for  "  perverting  the  '   hedrin  and 
nation."  ^^      John  and  Peter  were  arraigned  as     Testament, 
false   teachers;^  and  Paul   as   "a   seditionist," 
"and  a  ringleader  of  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes ;" '^  while  Ste- 
phen was  charged  with  having  spoken  against  the  law  of 
Moses  and  against  the  temple.^    Paul  was  placed  before  the 
Sanhedrin   by   the   Roman  officer   "to  know  the    certainty 
whereof  he  was  accused  by  the  Jews,"  when  Ananias  the  high 
priest  ordered   him  to  be  smitten  on  the  mouth  with  the 
iron  heel  of  a  shoe,  as  an  act  of  supreme  contempt  for  his 
having  made  a  profession  of  conscientiousness  respecting  his 
life.23 

By  reason  of  the  Babylonian  captivity  and  the  return  of 
only  two  tribes,  various  distinctions  arose   among  the  Jews 
respecting  their  rights  and  mutual  recognition, 
one  ground  of  which  was  sectional  differences.        encesof 
The  geograpical  lines  of  Palestine  limited  the 
Jewish  nation  known  as  the  Hebrews  ;  a  patronymic  referring 
to  Abraham,  the  progenitor  of  the  Jewish  race,  having  crossed 
the   river  Euphrates  when  he  immigrated  to  the  promised 
land  of  Palestine.    '-'' Israelite''''  was  the  term  used  to  designate 
a  Jew  among  his  brethren,  as  "Hebrew"  was  used  among  other 
nations.     But  those  Jews  who  were  scattered  abroad  and  did 
not  constitute  a  part  of  the  nation  were  called  '-Hhe  Disper- 
sion;^ while  in  the  New  Testament  they  were  called,  not 


"  Tal.  Avoda  Zara,  1 ;  Oemara  Bab.  ad  Sanhedr.  v.  '^  Lightfoot. 

"John  xi,  47;  Matt,  xxvl,  65;  Luke  xxiii,  2.  «>  Acts  Hi,  Iv. 

M/6.  xxlv,  5.  22J6.  vll.  «8/6.  xxU,  30;  xxiil,!,  2. 

«John,  vii,85. 


508  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

Greeks,  but  '■'■Grecians''''  or  '•'- Grecian  Jews^^  Those  dis- 
persed abroad  among  different  nations  spoke  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, which  was  another  point  of  difference.  That  ancient 
Hebrew  spoken  by  their  ancient  ancestors  was  lost  to  the 
Jews  during  their  Babylonian  captivity,  and  was  replaced  by 
a  dialect  of  the  Chaldee  known  as  the  Syro-Chaldaic  or  later 
Aramaean  tongue,  which  thence  became  the  vernacular  of  the 
Palestinian  Jews,  now  known  as  "the  Hebrew."  Three  lan- 
guages were  spoken  in  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Christ, — the 
Latin,  which  was  the  language  of  the  court;  the  Greek, 
which  was  the  common  commercial  language  of  the  nations; 
and  the  Hebrew,  which  was  the  vernacular  of  the  Jews. 

The  Jews  of  Palestine  had  their  temple  for  religious  serv- 
ices, while  those  of  the  "Dispersion"  were  not  excluded  there- 
._         from,  but  had  among  the  nations  their  syna- 

§359.  Differ-  '  o  -^ 

encesin  gogues  as  places  of  worship.  Foreign  Jews 
recited  their  Greek  sentences  and  read  their 
Sabbath  lessons  from  the  Pentateuch  or  the  prophets  in  the 
Greek  Septuagint,  according  to  Rabbi  Elias  Levita,  or  from 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  by  means  of  an  interpreter,  according 
to  Lightfoot  and  Vitringa  and  the  Talmudists.  The  Talmud- 
ists  say  that,  in  the  Law,  only  one  verse  was  read  at  a  time 
for  fear  of  a  mistake,  but  three  verses  were  read  by  the 
reader  at  a  time  when  an  interpreter  translated  them. 

These  differences  of  locality  and  language  gave  rise  to  nar- 
row prejudices,  greatly  to  the  disadvantage  of  those  of  the 
Dispersion.  It  was  made  a  matter  of  Talmudic  record  that 
"the  Jewish  offspring  of  Babylon  is  more  valuable  than  that 

*ln  the  New  Testament  a  distinction  is  observed, 'EXXtjc  being  rendered 
Greek,  and  'EXXi;^^^^^,  Orecian.  The  difference  of  the  English  termination,  how- 
ever. Is  not  sufficient  to  convey  the  difference  of  meanings.  'EXXtjc  in  the  New 
Testament  is  either  a  Greek  by  race,  as  in  Acts  xvi,  1-3;  xviil,  17;  Rom.  1, 14;  or 
more  frequently  a  Oentile,  as  opposed  to  a  Jew  (Rom.  11,  9,  10,  etc.);  so  fern. 
'EWriul^,  Mark  vll,  26;  Acts  xvii,  12.  'EXXt^wcti^j-  (properly  "one  who  speaks 
Greek")  Is  a  foreign  Jew;  opposed,  therefore,  not  to  'Iov8aio^,  but  to  'E^paw?-, 
a  home-Jew,  one  who  dwelt  in  Palestine."  (Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  Vol.  II, 
Hackett'8  edition,  p.  967,  first  column). 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       509 

in  Judaea  itself."^  Rabbi  Levi  Ben-Chaiatha,  upon  hearing 
some  Jews  on  their  way  to  Caesarea  reciting  sentences  in  the 
Law  in  Greek,  disallowed  it  on  account  of  the 

...      §360.  Diflfer- 

language;  upon  the  hearing  of  which,  Rabbi  ences  begot 
Jose,  with  much  indignation,  demanded :  "If  a  ^^^^-dvantages. 
man  does  not  know  how  to  recite  in  the  holy  tongue  [the 
Hebrew],  must  he  not  recite  them  at  all?  Let  him  perform 
this  duty  in  what  language  he  can."  ^  The  Hellenistic  Jews, 
speaking  the  Greek  language  as  their  vernacular,  were  regarded 
as  the  inferiors  of  the  Palestinian  Jews  who  spoke  the  Hebrew 
or  later  Aramsean.  The  Babylonian  Talmud  was  esteemed  as 
much  superior  to  that  of  Jerusalem.  Josephus,  who  wrote  his 
nistories  in  the  Greek  language,  states  the  prejudice  of  his 
countrymen  against  the  Greek  thus : 

"  Our  nation  does  not  encourage  those  that  learn  the  language  of 
many  nations,  and  so  adorn  their  discourses  with  the  smoothness  of  their 
periods,  because  they  look  upon  this  sort  of  accomplishment  as  common, 
not  only  to  all  kinds  of  freedmen,  but  to  as  many  servants  as  may  choose 
to  learn  them.  But  they  give  him  the  testimony  of  being  a  wise  man 
who  is  fully  acquainted  with  our  laws,  and  is  able  to  interpret  their 
meaning."  2^ 

During  the  period  of  the  Roman- Jewish  war  the  Talmud- 
ists  recorded  a  decree  prohibiting  a  father  teaching  his  son  the 
Greek  philosophy,  under  a  ban  : 

"Cursed  is  the  man  who  teacheth  his  sons  the  wisdom  of  the 
Greeks."^  "Rabbin  Simeon,  the  son  of  Gamaliel,  is  made  to  say: 
'There  were  a  thousand  in  my  father's  school  [^.  e.,  Hillel's],  of  whom 
five  hundred  learned  the  Law,  and  five  hundred  the  wisdom  of  the  Greeks ; 
and  there  is  not  now  one  of  the  last  alive  excepting  myself  and  my 
uncle's  son.' "  ^ 

The  meaning  of  this  extraordinary  statement  is,  that  God 
vindicated  the  "  curse  "  of  the  decree  issued  by  the  Sanhedrin 

*6  Lightfoot,  Hebraic  and  Talmudic  Exercit.  Vol.  II,  p.  967. 
2«  Tal.  Jerus.  Sola,  fol.  xxl,  2.  "  Ant.  xx,  11,  2. 

^Bava  Kam.  fol.  82,  2;  and  Mishna,  Sola,  9,  14. 
«»  Oemdra,  Bav.  Kam.  t.  82,  and  Soia,  f.  40, 1,  in  Lightfoot,  II,  p.  660. 

33 


510         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

against  Greek  letters  and  learning;  nevertheless,  there  was 
one  qualification  admitted:  "They  allowed  the  family  of 
Rabbin  Gamaliel  the  Greek  learning,  because  it  was  allied  to 
the  royal  blood."  With  such  prejudice  and  contempt  for  the 
language  which  had  become  the  vernacular  of  the  Jews  of  the 
Dispersion,  it  is  easy  to  infer  the  self-asserted  superiority  of 
the  "  home-Jew  "  for  his  brother  born  in  a  foreign  land. 

These  historical  circumstances  and  distinctions  indicated 

are  not  only  in  entire  agreement  with  the  Scriptures,  but   are 

notablv  preserved  and  incidentally  interwoven 

8  361.Distinc-  .  "  ... 

tions  in  the  New  with  the  Very  text.  The  principal  points  to  be 
es  amen  ,  observed  are  the  universal  "  Dispersion  "  of  the 
Jewish  race  among  the  nations,  the  several  appellations  desig- 
nating the  Palestinean  and  the  foreign  Jews,  and  the  worship 
of  the  Synagogue  in  place  of  that  of  the  Temple  as  a  neces- 
sity. These  facts,  as  being  already  existent,  are  particularized 
in  the  dedication  of  the  Sacred  Writings,  in  the  practical  work 
of  the  apostles,  no  less  than  in  the  ministry  of  Christ. 

a)  The  Jews  asked  among  themselves :  "  Will  he  go  unto  the 
Dispersion  among  the  Greeks,  and  teach  the  Greeks  ?"  ^  James 
dedicates  his  Epistle ^^  "To  the  Twelve  Tribes  which  are  of  the 
Dispersion."  Peter,  in  his  first  Epistle,^  addresses  "The  elect 
who  are  sojourners  of  the  Dispersion  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cap- 
padocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia." 

)8)  Paul  wrote  to  the  Corinthians:  "Are  they  Hebrews? 
So  am  I.  Are  they  Israelites  ?  So  am  I.  Are  they  the  seed 
of  Abraham?  So  am  I."^  To  the  Philippians  he  wrote: 
"Circumcised  the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews."  **  That  is,  to 
the  brethren  abroad  he  made  himself  known  by  the  familiar 
name  of  Israelite  /  to  the  Gentile  nations  as  a  Hebrew  ;  and 
to  all^  as  "  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews^''  meaning  that  there  was 
no  proselyte  blood  coursing  in  his  veins. 

y)  In  Asia,  Paul  and  Barnabas  "  came  to  Antioch  in  Pisidia, 

30  John  vll,  34,  35.       »i  Epls.  1,  1.       saiPet.  1,  1.        m  2  Cor.  xl,  22.       84  pbii.  m,  5, 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       511 

and  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  sat 
down,"  ^  and  on  invitation  Paul  preached.  At  Iconium  they 
"entered  together  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and  so 
spake  that  a  great  multitude  both  of  Jews  and  Greeks  be- 
lieved.''^ Also  m.  Europe,  as  in  Asia,  Paul  and  Silas  "came  to 
Thessalonica,  where  was  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews."^  At 
Athens,  Paul  "reasoned  in  the  synagogue  with  the  Jews  and 
devout  persons."  ^  At  Corinth  "  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue 
every  Sabbath,  and  persuaded  Jews  and  Greeks."^  And  at  the 
great  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem,  there  were  present  "Jews,  de- 
vout men  from  every  nation  under  heaven."*' 
Josephus  states  that — 

"The  Jewish  nation  is  widely  dispersed  over  the  habitable  earth 
among  its  inhabitants."*^  "Avery  sad  calamity  now  befell  the  Jews 
that  were  in  Mesopotamia,  and  especially  those  that  dwelt  in  Baby- 
lonia.'"^ 

In  agreement  with  the  facts  cited,  Luke  records  an  item  of 
history  respecting  the  early  Christians  at  Jerusalem : 

"  Now  in  these  days  when  the  number  of  the  disciples  was  multiply- 
ing, there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the  Grecian  Jews  against  the  Hebrews, 
because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministrations."*^ 

The  dispersion  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Jewish  popula- 
tion is  thus  shown  to  be  historical,  corroborating  the  references 
to  the  condition  of  the  Jews  abroad  made  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  the  non-intercourse  of  the  home  and  the  foreign 
Jews;  the  loss  of  "the  holy  tongue"  as  the  popular  vernacular 
on  the  part  of  the  dispersed ;  the  substitution  therefor  of  the 
Greek,  which  in  Palestine  was  placed  under  the  ban  of  a 
curse ;  the  self-conscious  superiority  assumed  by  the  "  home- 
Jew"  in  his  relation  to  the  daily  temple-service;  his  being 
tinder  the  government  of  the  Sandedrin,  which  was  so  re- 
vered,— these,    and    other   circumstances  of    like    character, 

»  Acts  xlli,  14.  36  /{,.  xiv,  1.  «  Acts  xvll,  1. 

38  J6.  xvll,  17.  3»  J6.  xvill,  4.  «>  J6. 11,  5. 

«  Wars,  vll,  8,3.  «t  Ant.  xvill,  9, 1.  «  Acts  vl,  1. 


512         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

explain  the  narrow  bias  felt  towards  the  brethren  of  the 
"  Dispersion,"  as  well  as  the  partiality  and  injustice  practiced 
towards  the  widows  of  the  Jewish  Christians,  calling  for  a 
Board  of  Administration  to  be  organized,  in  which  Philip  the 
Evangelist  and  Stephen  occupied  a  conspicuous  place. 

The  sects  of  the  Jews  have  prominence  in  sacred  history. 

The  principal  divisions  were  the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees, 

and  the  Essenes,  the  last  of  which  are  not  men- 

§362.  Jewish  ^^^^^^  j^  ^]^g  ;^g^y  Testament.    Thevwerenota 

Sects  and  tne  " 

New  Testa-  distinct  class  of  persons,  but  with  a  distinct  set  of 
^^^  '  beliefs.  The  Pharisees  were  distinguished  chiefly 
for  their  maintenance  of  the  doctrine  that  man  possessed  a  spirit; 
that  the  spirit  is  immortal ;  that  the  body  will  have  a  resurrec- 
tion; and  they  further  held  that  oral  traditions,  which  they 
claimed  had  descended  from  the  ancient  elders  of  Israel  in  the 
time  of  Moses,  were  equally  binding  upon  the  Jews  with  their 
Scriptures.  The  Sadducees  originated  about  B.  C.  160-143 
under  Jonathan,  successor  to  Judas  Maccabaeus,**  and  were  dis- 
tinguished for  their  rejection  of  that  doctrine  believed  by  the 
Pharisees.  Each  sect  had  its  own  institution  of  learning  at  Je- 
rusalem, founded  to  maintain  and  advance  its  own  faith.  Hillel 
represented  the  Pharisees,  whose  head  was  the  famous  Ptabban 
Gamaliel  and  his  renowned  descendants.  Shammai  represented 
the  views  of  the  Sadducees.  These  two  sects  were  ever  in 
open  contention ;  so  that  it  passed  into  a  proverb,  "  That  even 
Elijah  the  Tishbite  would  not  be  able  to  reconcile  the  adher- 
ents of  Hillel  and  Shammai."  ^ 

The  Pharisees  were  most  prominent  in  the  account  of  the 
Gospels,  and  were  the  more  severely  dealt  with  by  Jesus  because 
they  made  obligatory  their  self-imposed  '•'■traditions;''-'^  but 
the  Sadducees  were  noted  for  their  fierce  character,  and  the 
Sadducean  high  priest  Caiaphas  and  his  father-in-law  Annas 
maliciously  extorted  from  Pilate  the  death-warrant  of  Christ. 
However,  after  the  crucifixion  and  the  claim  made  by  the 

<'.ln«.  xlll.  10,  6;  xvlll,  1,  4.  «Kitto.  «Matt.  xxill. 


Jewish  ^Nation  in  Times  or  the  Xew  Testament.       513 

Christian  Jews  of  Christ's  resurrection,  the  Pharisees  no  lonsrer 
appear  in  the  foreground  of  persecution  of  the  apostles,  as  if  in 
some  measure  sympathizing  with  Christian  doctrine."*'  Once 
the  Sadducees  attempted  to  entrap  Jesus  by  proposing  a  ques- 
tion of  a  man  who  had  had  seven  wives  in  succession,  whose 
husband  would  he  be  in  the  resurrection.  But  Jesus  "  put  the 
Sadducees  to  silence."^ 

This  Jewish  historian  says : 

"  At  this  time  there  were  sects  among  the  Jews:  .  .  .  the  one  was 
called  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,  another  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees."*^ 
"The  Pharisees  have  delivered  to  the  people  a  great 
many  observances  by  succession  from  their  fathers  which  §  ^®®'  Josephus 
are  not  written  in  the  law  of  Moses  ;  and  for  that  reason  these  Sects 
it  is  that  the  Sadducees  reject  them,  and  say  that  we  are 
to  esteem  those  observances  to  be  obligatory  which  are  in  the  wi-itten 
Word,  but  not  to  observe  what  are  derived  from  the  tradition  of  our 
fathers.  And  concerning  these  things  it  is  that  great  disputes  and  differ- 
ences have  risen  among  them."^°  The  Pharisees  "  believe  that  souls 
have  an  immortal  vigor  in  them ;"  that  "  there  will  be  rewards  and 
punishments  according  as  they  have  lived  virtuously  or  viciously  in  this 
life  ;"  that  tlie  wicked  will  be  "  detained  in  an  everlasting  prison,"  but 
the  righteous  "shall  have  power  to  revive  and  live  again."  "  But  the 
doctrine  of  the  Sadducees  is  this,  that  souls  die  with  the  bodies."  "  "  The 
behavior  of  the  Sadducees  one  toward  another  is  in  some  degree  wild, 
and  their  conduct  with  those  of  their  own  party  is  as  barbarous  as  if  they 
were  strangers  to  them."  ^^ 

Paul  makes  distinct  claim  to  being  a  Pharisee,  educated 
"at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,"^  "exceedingly  zealous  for  the  tradi- 
tions" of  his  fathers;^  "  as  touching  the  law  a  Pharisee."^  In 
the  Sanhedrin  he  said  :  "  I  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of  a  Pharisee."  ^ 
But  for  his  pharisaic  traditions,  we  should  never  have  known 
that  it  was  "  Jannes  and  Jambres"  who  "withstood  Moses" 
before  Pharaoh.^' 

In  the  time  of  Christ's  ministry  there  existed  hereditary 
enmity  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans,  the  origin  of 
which  dated  centuries  earlier.     The  Samaritans  were  a  mixed 

«  Oomp.  Acts  V,  17,  34-40,  and  xxlii,  6-9.  «  Matt,  xxll,  25-34. 

«^7i<.  xiil,  5,  9;  TTars,  11,  8,  2.  6o^„^.  xlli,  10,  6. 

"vine,  xvlll,  1,  3,  4.  M  TTars,  11,  8, 14.  53  Acts  xxll,  3.  siQai.  i,  14. 

ssPhll.  111,5.     66  Acts  xxlll,6-8.      "2  Tim.  Ill,  8;  comp.  Ex.vll,  11;  vlil,  17-20,  etc. 


514  Historical  Evidence  of  the  JS^ew  Testament. 

race  of  Assyrian  descendants  and  renegade  Jews,  and  others 
of  foreign  extraction.  During  the  period  of  the  Babylonian 
captivity,  the  Samaritans  ravaged  and  occupied 
Jews  and  Jewish  estates ;  and  upon  the  return  of  the  two 
tribes  the  Jews  excluded  them  from  all  participa- 
tion in  the  temple.  The  Samaritans  were  called  the  "  adver- 
saries of  Judah  and  Benjamin."^  This  racial  dislike  and 
hostility  are  more  than  intimated  in  several  passages  in  the 
Gospels.  The  woman  at  Jacob's  well  said  unto  Jesus:  "How 
is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me  who  am  a 
woman  of  Samaria;  for  the  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans  ?"  ^  In  another  instance  the  Lord,  with  his  disciples, 
was  journeying  toward  Jerusalem,  and  a  certain  Samaritan 
village  refused  to  accord  the  usual  rights  of  sacred  hospitality, 
for  this  express  reason : 

"  Because  his  face  was  as  though  he  were  going  to  Jerusalem.  And 
when  his  disciples  saw  this,  they  said:  Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  bid  Are 
come  down  from  heaven  and  consume  them,  even  as  Elijah  did?  But  he 
turned  and  rebuked  them,  and  said:  Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit 
ye  are  of."^ 

A  more  opprobrious  term  the  Jews  could  not  employ  against 
Jesus  than  this:  "Say  we  not  well  that  thou  art  a  Samaritan, 
and  hast  a  devil?"  Of  the  ten  lepers  cleansed  by  Jesus,  only 
one  returned  to  him  "to  give  glory  to  God,"  "and  he  was  a 
Samaritan."^ 

Josephus  confirms  the  enmity  and  antagonism  existing  be- 
tween these  two  peoples  when  he  mentions  how  the  Samaritans 
"distressed  the  Jews,  cutting  off  parts  of  their  land  and  carrying 
off  slaves ;"  ^^  how  the  Samaritans  attacked  the  Galileans  who 
were  journeying  to  Jerusalem  to  their  festivals,  passing  through 
Samaria,  when  many  Jews  were  killed;"^  and  withal,  how  the 
Samaritans  stole  into  the  city  by  night  and  "  threw  about  dead 
men's  bodies  in  the  cloisters"  of  the  temple,  "on  which  ac- 

6«  Ezra  Iv,  1,  etc.  s'.Iohplv.O.  •<>  Luke  Ix,  51-55. 

«•  John  vlU,  48;  Luke  xvli,  15-18.  «  A7it.  xll,  4, 1. 

"'/(i.  XX,  6, 1 ;  Life  of  Josephus,  $  52. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       515 

count  the  Jews  afterward  excluded  them  out  of  the  temple, 
which  they  had  not  been  used  to  do  at  such  festivals.""  These 
instances  sufficiently  illustrate  and  demonstrate  the  ancient 
animosity  existing  between  these  two  races,  occupying  the 
country  of  Palestine,  and  more  than  verify  as  historical  the 
fact  so  briefly  and  incidentally  alluded  to  in  the  Gospels. 

It  is  a  sad  indictment  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Jews  of 
that  period,  which  Josephus  makes  against  his  own  people  con- 
cerning their  contumacious  spirit,  their  disposi- 
tion to  conspiracies,  and  their  general  practices        Jewish 

o  .  T,.  TT-     J    T  xi  -J.    Characteristics. 

of  immoralities.     His  deliverance  on  these  points 

are  suggestive  of  the  tone  and  trend  of  one  who  was  himself  a 

witness,  or  was  otherwise  well  assured  of  the  facts  involved  in 

what  he  narrates. 

a)  A  Spirit  of  Insubordination.     Matthew  relates  how  the 

Pharisees  in  behalf  of  the  Jews,  and  the  Herodians  in  behalf 

of  the  Romans,  conspired  together  to  ensnare  Jesus,  when  they 

approached  him  with  a  proposition  for  his  answer  which  they 

intended  should  deprive  him  of  his  influence  over  the  Jews,  or, 

on  the  other  hand,  cause  him  to  forfeit  his  life  for  treason  to 

the  Romans.     After  the  most  flattering  words  they  said : 

"  Tell  us  therefore,  What  thinkest  thou:  is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute 
unto  Csesar  or  not?  But  Jesus  perceived  their  wickedness  and  said: 
Why  tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites?  Show  me  the  tribute  money.  And 
they  brought  unto  him  a  penny.  And  he  saith  unto  them.  Whose  is  this 
image  and  superscription?  They  say  unto  him,  Caesar's.  Then  saith  he 
unto  them:  Render  unto  Csesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,  and  unto 
God  the  things  which  are  God's.  And  when  they  heard  it,  they  marveled, 
and  left  him  and  went  their  way."  ^ 

Luke  records  the  speech  of  the  famous  Gamaliel  in  defense 
of  the  apostles  before  the  Sanhedrin,  when  he  said : 

"  Before  these  days  rose  up  Theudas,  giving  himself  out  to  be  some- 
body ;  to  whom  a  number  of  men,  about  four  hundred,  joined  themselves, 
who  were  slain ;  and  all,  as  many  as  obeyed  him,  were  dispersed  and 
came  to  nought.  After  this,  rose  up  Judas  of  Galilee  in  the  days  of  the 
enrollment,  and  drew  away  some  of  the  people  after  him ;  he  also  per- 
ished, and  all,  as  many  as  obeyed  him,  were  scattered  abroad."^ 

6<.4»i«.  xvlll,2,2.  «Matt.xxll,  15-33.  ee  Acts  v,  35-39. 


516         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

At  this  point  several  things  are  to  be  kept  in  sight : 

1.  That,  historically,  the  Jewish  nation  was  divided  as  to 
the  right  and  policy  of  resisting  the  imperial  government  in 
taxing  the  Jewish  estates;  a  fact  evidenced  by  the  question 
submitted  to  Christ  for  his  decision  by  the  mutually  opposing 
parties  touching  the  legitimacy  of  that  measure. 

2.  That  the  time  of  this  taxing  was  in  the  second  enroll- 
ment of  Cyrenius,  which  occurred  in  A.  D.  6  corrected,  or 
A.  D.  10  of  our  present  current  chronology ;  his  first  enroll- 
ment having  been  taken  B.  C.  4,  when  Christ  was  born,  -which 
was  of  the  Sqwb^ population;  the  second  of  their  property  f' — ■ 
and  there  is  no  account  whatever  of  any  other  enrollment 
afterwards. 

3.  That  it  was  the  enforcement  of  this  taxation  upon  prop- 
erty which  was  the  occasion  for  the  open  revolt  of  Judas  of 
Galilee,  referred  to  by  Gamaliel,  and  passed  as  understood  by 
the  Sanhedrists  as  historical,  when  the  apostles  were  before 
them  for  examination  respecting  the  facts  and  doctrines  which 
they  were  preaching. 

4.  We  have  no  other  account  of  this  particular  Theudas 
named  by  Gamaliel,  whose  revolt  dates  ^/'w  to  the  enroll- 
ment of  Cyrenius,  since  "  after  this  man  rose  up  Judas  of  Gal- 
ilee in  the  days  of  the  enrollment^''  of  whom  Josephus  gives 
considerable  information  and  confirmation.  Nevertheless,  he 
narrates  particulars  of  a  later  Theudas,  an  impostor,  whose 
exploits  occurred  in  the  procuratorship  of  Cuspius  Fadus 
(A.  D.  44-46),  who  was  slain  with  many  others.** 

Josephus  authenticates  the  case  of  a  Judas  as  occurring 
under  the  procuratorship  of  Coponius,  which  was  A.  D.  6-9 
corrected  chronology.     He  says: 

"  Coponius,  also  a  man  of  the  equestrian  order,  was  sent  to  have  the 
supreme  power  over  the  Jews.  Moreover,  Cyrenius  came  himself  into 
Judaea  ...  to  take  an  account  of  their  substance.  There  was  one 
Judas,  a  Gaulonite,  of  the  city,  whose  name  was  Gamala,  who,  taking 

«'See$59(7).  «'^n<.xx,5,l 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       517 

with  him  Sadduc,  a  Pharisee,  became  zealous  to  draw  them  to  a  revolt, 
who  both  said  that  this  taxation  was  no  better  than  an  introduction  to 
slavery,  and  exhorted  the  nation  to  assert  their  liberty."  ^^  "  The  sons  of 
Judas  of  Galilee  were  now  slain  ;  I  mean  that  Judas  who  caused  the  peo- 
ple to  revolt  when  Cyrenius  came  to  take  an  account  of  the  estates  of 
the  Jews,  as  we  have  shown  in  a  foregoing  book."  ™ 

/3)  A  Disposition  for  Conspiracies.  This  characteristic 
spirit  of  the  Jews  illustrated  itself  in  the  time  of  the  apostles, 
when  "the  Jews  banded  together  and  bound  themselves  with 
a  curse,  saying  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they 
had  killed  Paul;  and  they  were  more  than  forty  who  made 
this  conspiracy."  ^  But  the  conspiracy  was  detected  and  de- 
feated by  the  apostle's  nephew,  "  Paul's  sister's  son." 

It  is  mentioned  in  Jewish  history  that  a  similar  conspiracy 
was  organized  against  the  life  of  Herod  the  Great  in  the  early 
part  of  his  reign,  on  account  of  his  having  introduced  strange 
and  heathen  customs  among  the  Jews  and  forced  them  upon 
the  people.  "  Ten  men  that  were  citizens  [of  Jerusalem]  con- 
spired together  against  him,  and  sware  to  one  another  to 
undergo  any  dangers  in  the  attempt;  and  took  daggers  with 
them  under  their  garments"  for  the  purpose  of  killing  Herod. 
But  the  plot  was  detected,  exposed,  and  the  parties  implicated 
suffered  death.'^ 

These  instances  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  Jews  at  that  period.  The  case  of  Paul  is 
interesting  in  that  the  conspirators  boldly  approached  the 
chief  priests  and  Sanhedrists,  the  highest  judicial  body  of  the 
Jews  and  rulers  of  the  nation,  seeking  their  complicity  by 
co-operation  in  this  self-confessed  plot  to  assassinate  a  man  for 
the  crime  of  being  a  Christian;  a  fact  which  naturally  recalls 
an  earlier  conspiracy,  conceived  in  deadly  malice,  and  cul- 
minating in  the  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God. 

y)  Immorality  of  Conduct.  We  are  indebted  to  one  who 
was  himself  a  Jew  and  a  priest  and  historian  of  the  Jews  for 

^•>Ant.  xvUl,  1,  1;  Wars,  ii,  8, 1;  lb.  vll,  8, 1.  'i'^  Ant.  xx,  5,  2. 

"Acts  xxiil,  12-16.  ^iAnt.  xv,  8,  3,  4. 


518  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

the  following  terrible  arraignment  of  his  brethren  who  were 
his  contemporaries.     Joseph  us  thus  witnesses: 

"  That  was  a  time  most  fertile  in  all  manner  of  wicked  practices, 
insomuch  that  no  kind  of  evil  deeds  wei-e  then  left  undone ;  nor  could 
any  one  so  much  as  devise  any  bad  thing  that  was  new ;  so  deeply  were 
f  they  all  infected  and  strove  with  one  another,  in  their  single  capacity 
and  their  communities,  who  should  run  the  greatest  lengths  in  impiety 
towards  God,  and  in  unjust  actions  toward  their  neighbors ;  the  men  of 
power  oppressing  the  multitude,  and  the  multitude  earnestly  laboring 
to  destroy  the  men  of  power.  The  one  part  were  desirous  of  tyranniz- 
ing over  others  ;  and  the  rest  offering  violence  to  others,  and  plundering 
such  as  were  richer  than  themselves."  " 

He  further  makes  a  record  touching  the  iniquities  of  his 
brethren  to  the  effect  that  "no  city  ever  suffered  such  mis- 
eries," "no  age,  since  the  beginning  of  the  world,"  "ever  bred 
a  generation  more  fruitful  in  wickedness;"  that  they  overthrew 
the  city  and  forced  the  Roman  army  to  come  and  make  a  con- 
quest of  their  nation,  and  that  they  drew  the  fire  which  con- 
sumed the  temple  of  God  at  Jerusalem.  Then,  as  a  final 
arraignment,  he  adds : 

"  I  suppose  that  had  the  Romans  made  any  longer  delay  in  coming 
against  these  villains  the  city  would  either  have  been  swallowed  up  by 
the  ground  opening  upon  them,  or  been  overflowed  by  water,  or  else 
been  destroyed  by  such  thunder-[storms]  as  the  country  of  Sodom  per- 
ished by ;  for  it  brought  forth  a  generation  of  men  much  more  athe- 
istical than  were  those  that  suffered  such  punishments ;  for  by  their 
madness  it  was  that  all  the  people  were  destroyed."  ^^ 

II.  The  Destruction  or  the  Jewish  Nation. 

The  Lord  Jesus,  having  wept  over  Jerusalem,  left  the  temple 

accompanied  by  his  disciples,  and  ascended  the  slopes  of  the 

Mount  of  Olives  to  the  east  of  the  city,  over 

§366.  Predic-  ^  . 

tions  of        opposite  the  sacred  courts.     From  this  point  the 
Holy  City  was  to  be  seen  at  the  greatest  advan- 
tage, overlooking  the  walls.     His  disciples  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  the  magnificence  of  the  buildings  which  adorned  the 
sacred  grounds  of  the  temple.     Jesus  there  gave  utterance  to 

73  TTars,  vll,  8, 1.  ''/b.  v,  13,  6. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       519 

that  which  was  at  once  one  of  the  most  marvelous,  as  well  as 
most  momentous,  predictions  that  ever  fell  from  prophetic  lips, 
or  found  verification  in  human  history.  It  was  his  prophecy 
of  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem,  the  destruction  of  the  temple, 
involving  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  nation,  the  expatriation 
of  the  people,  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  theocracy.  As 
the  distinguished  historian  Milman  remarks : 

"The  distinctness,  the  minuteness,  the  circumstantial  accuracy 
with  which  the  prophetic  outline  of  the  siege  and  fall  of  Jerusalem  is 
drawn,  bear,  perhaps,  greater  evidence  of  more  than  human  foreknowl- 
edge than  any  other  in  the  sacred  volume."  ^* 

The  Prediction:  "And  Jesus  went  out  of  the  temple  and  was  going 
on  his  way,  and  his  disciples  came  unto  him  to  show  him  the  buildings 
of  the  temple.  .  .  .  And  as  he  sat  on  Olivet  the  disciples  came  unto 
him  privately,  saying:  Tell  us  when  will  these  things  be?  And  what 
will  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world?"  '* 

"And  as  some  spake  of  the  temple,  how  it  was  adorned  with  goodly 
stones  and  offerings,  he  said:  As  for  these  things  which  ye  behold,  the 
days  will  come  in  which  there  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another 
that  shall  not  be  thrown  down!  And  they  asked  him,  saying:  Master, 
when  shall  these  things  be,  and  what  will  be  the  sign  when  these  things 
are  about  to  come  to  pass?  "  " 

Obviously  here  are  two  distinct  questions  asked,  and  two 
different  replies  given.  Matthew  gives  prominence  to  the 
signs  of  Chrisfs  coming  at  "the  end  of  the  world."  Luke 
gives  prominence  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  when  "  there 
shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another."  To  avoid  confusion 
of  understanding  respecting  which  event  is  referred  to  in  the 
twofold  answer  returned,  the  two  lines  of  thought  related  to 
the  two  subjects  of  Christ's  prediction  should  be  carefully  dis- 
criminated. The  present  discussion  is  interested  only  in  the 
proposition  appertaining  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  theoc- 
racy, including  all  that  that  conveys,  so  circumstantially  fore- 
told and  historically  fulfilled.  This  is  restricted  to  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  and  the  Jewish  nationality.  The 
Synoptic  Gospels  contain  the  complete  record  of  this  conver- 

«Zfis«.  of  Christianity,  Vol.  I,  311.  "Matt,  xxlv,  1-3.  ""  Luke  xxl,  5-7. 


520         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

sation,  at  least  so  far  as  transmitted  to  us.*     The  following 
particulars  may  be  elicited  from  these  Scriptures: 

1.  There  would  first  arise  many  false  Messiahs  and  impostors. 

2.  But  the  Gospel  would  first  be  published  unto  all  the  nations. 

3.  Then  would  be  realized  by  the  Jews  "the  beginning  of 

sorrows." 

4.  The  final  calamities  would  be  preceded  by  certain  signs. 

5.  Of  the  Christians,  not  a  hair  of  their  heads  should  perish. 

6.  And  all  these  things  would  occur  within  the  generation 

then  living. 
How  far  this  deliverance  of  Christ  was  realized  when  the 
Jews  were  destroyed  in  their  theocracy  and  state,  remains  to 
be  verified  by  the  witness  of  both  Jewish  and  pagan  histori- 
ans who  were  unfriendly  to  the  Christian  religion. 

False  Messiahs  and  Impostors. 

The  Prediction:  "Jesus  answered  and  said:  Take  heed  that  no 
man  lead  you  astray,  for  many  will  come  in  my  name  saying,  I  am  the 
Christ,  and  will  lead  many  astray,  .  .  .  and  many  false  prophets 
will  arise  and  lead  many  astray.  Then  if  any  man  shall  say  unto  you : 
Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or  there,  believe  it  not ;  for  there  will  be  many  false 
Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  will  show  great  signs  and  wonders,  so  as 
to  lead  astray,  if  possible,  the  very  elect."  "Behold  I  have  told  you 
all  things  beforehand. "^^ 

The  Fulfillment:  Josephus  in  his  Histories  records  the 
circumstantial  realization  of  this  prediction.  The  evidential 
events  selected  occurred  under  the  procuratorship  of  Cuspius 
Fadus,  A.  D.  44-46;  Claudius  Felix,  50-58;  and  Fortius  Fes- 
tus,  58-60.^  The  destruction  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  and 
commonwealth  culminated  in  the  capture  and  desolation  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  year  70, 

a)  "  Now  it  came  to  pass  while  Fadus  was  procurator  of  Judaea,  that 
a  certain  magician  whose  name  was  Theudas  persuaded  a  great  part  of 
6  367.  Procu-  *'^^  people  to  take  their  effects  with  them,  and  follow 
rators  and  him  to  the  river  Jordan  ;  for  he  told  them  that  he  was 
the  FulflUment.  ^  prophet,  and  that  he  would  by  his  own  command 
divide  the  river  [Jordan],  and  afford  them  an  easy  passage  over  it;   and 

*Mark  states  that  the  disciples  who  enf^aged  privately  In  this  conversation 
with  Christ  were  Peter,  James,  John,  and  Andrew  (xlU,  3). 
"Matt,  xxlv,  4,  5, 11,  23,  24;  comp.  Mark  xlll,  5,  6,  23. 
'9 Thomas  Lewln. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       521 

many  were  deluded  by  his  words."*"  But  Theudas  was  captured  and 
beheaded,  and  many  of  the  deluded  ones  were  slain. 

/3)  "  Now  as  for  the  affairs  of  the  Jews,  they  grew  worse  and  worse 
continually,  for  the  country  was  again  filled  with  robbers  who  deluded 
the  multitude.  Yet  did  Felix  catch  and  put  to  death  many  of  the  im- 
postors every  day."  "And  now  these  impostors  and  deceivers  persuaded 
the  multitude  to  follow  them  into  the  wilderness,  and  pretended  that 
they  would  exhibit  manifest  wonders  and  signs  that  should  be  per- 
formed by  the  providence  of  God."*^ 

7)  "So  Festus  sent  forces,  both  horsemen  and  footmen,  to  fall  upon 
those  that  had  been  seduced  by  a  certain  impostor  who  promised  them 
deliverance  and  freedom  from  the  miseries  they  were  under,  if  they 
would  follow  him  as  far  as  the  wilderness.  Accordingly,  those  forces 
that  were  sent  destroyed  both  him  that  deluded  them,  and  those  that 
were  his  followers  also."*^ 

In  these  citations  no  mention  is  made  by  Josephus  of  "false 
Christs"  as  such;  nevertheless,  he  does  call  them  false  prophets, 
deceivers,  and  impostors;  and  many  of  them  promised  to 
deliver  the  Jews  from  the  (oppressions  and  distresses  which 
they  suffered  under  the  Roman  domination,  which  was  the 
popular  expectation  to  be  realized  in  the  coming  of  the  Christ. 
So  that,  not  in  the  form  of  words,  but  in  the  reality,  they  ver- 
ified Christ's  prediction  of  "  false  prophets  "  who  would  "  arise 
and  lead  many  astray." 

The  Gospel  Given  to  All  Nations. 

The  Prediction:  "And  the  gospel  shall  first  be  published  unto  all 
nations."*^  "And  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  published  in  the 
whole  world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end 
come."** 

The  FulfillTnent:  In  Paul's  apostolate  he  preached  the 
gospel  personally  in  Antioch,  in  Syria ;  at  Paphos,  in  the  island, 
Cvprus;  at  Antioch,  in  Pisidia ;  Iconium,  Lystra, 

.  §  368.  The  Gos- 

and  Derbe,  in  Lycaonia ;   at  Perga  and  Ephesus,      pel  and  the 
in  Asia  Minor;  in  Philippi, Thessalonica,  Berea,    »°°^«'" world. 
Athens,  Corinth,  and  Rome,  in  Europe ;  as  well  as  in  Csesarea 
and  Jerusalem,  in  Palestine.     To  many  of  these  cities  he  ad- 
dressed epistles  full  of  Christly  instruction.    So  that  this  man's 

^Anl.  XX,  5, 1.  81J5.  XX,  8,  5,  6;  comp. further  Wars,  11, 13,  4,  5;  vl,  5,  2,  3. 

^Ant.  XX,  8, 10.  88  Mark  xUl,  10.  8«Matt.  xxlv,  U. 


522         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

apostolical  labors  more   than   justified   his  own  affirmation 

that— 

"For  I  will  not  dare  to  speak  of  any  of  those  things  which  Christ 
wrought  not  through  me,  for  the  obedience  of  the  Gentiles,  by  word  and 
deed,  in  the  power  of  signs  and  wonders  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
so  that  from  Jerusalem,  and  round  about  even  unto  Illyricum,  I  have 
fully  preached  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  yea,  making  it  my  aim  so  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  where  Christ  was  already  named,  that  I  might  not  build 
upon  another  man's  foundation  ;  but  as  it  is  written :  They  shall  see  to 
whom  no  tidings  of  him  came ;  and  they  who  have  not  heard,  shall  un- 
derstand." ^ 

In  the  same  epistle  Paul  declares  of  the  Christians,  that 
"their  faith  is  proclaimed  throughout  the  whole  world." ^ 
The  Apostle  Peter  also  addressed  his  first  epistle  to  the  Chris- 
tians resident  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  and 
Bithynia.  And  at  the  great  Christian  Pentecost  at  Jerusa- 
lem, there  were  present  "  Jews,  devout  men  from  every  nation 
under  heaven,"  who  were  "confounded,  because  that  every 
man  heard  them  speaking  in  his  own  language."  And  they 
said: 

"How  hear  we  every  man  in  our  own  language  wherein  we  were 
born  ?  Parthians  and  Medes  and  Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Meso- 
potamia, in  Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia,  in  Phrygia  and 
Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  and  sojourners 
from  Rome,  both  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretans  and  Arabians,  we  do  hear 
them  speaking  in  our  tongues  the  mighty  works  of  God."'^'^ 

Eusebius,  referring  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius  having  pro- 
posed to  the  Roman  Senate  the  name  of  Christ  to  be  enrolled 
among  the  gods  of  the  State,  quotes  from  the  Apology  of  Ter- 
tullian  before  the  government  in  the  Christians'  behalf,  the 
following : 

"Tiberius  therefore,  under  whom  the  name  of  Christ  was  spread 
throughout  the  world,  when  this  doctrine  was  announced  to  him  fi-om 
Palestine,  where  it  first  began,  communicated  with  the  Senate,  being 
obviously  pleased  with  the  doctrine."  ** 

Tacitus  testifies  that  Christianity,  "  the  pernicious  supersti- 
tion, repressed  for  a  time,  broke  out  again,  not  only  through 

86  Romans  xv,  18-21.  ^Ib.  1,  8.  8^  Acts  11,  5-11. 

^ Eccl.HUt.  11,  2;  comp.Tertulllan's  Apoloi/y,  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  111,  pp.  21, 22. 


Jewish  Kation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       523 

Judsea  where  the  mischief  originated,  but  through  the  city  of 
Rome  also."*  About  forty-two  years  after  the  subjugation  of 
Palestine  by  Titus,  Pliny  the  younger  was  appointed  governor 
of  Bithynia.  Upon  his  accession  to  power  he  found  the  Chris- 
tians so  numerous  in  Asia  Minor  that  he  sought  to  suppress 
the  religion  by  either  recantation  or  extermination;  and  he 
sought  the  advice  of  his  emperor,  Trajan,  aiRrming  that  the 
course  would  expose  to  danger  "many  of  every  age,  and  of 
every  rank,  and  of  either  sex."  ®  He  feared  for  the  stability 
of  his  government  over  the  province.  To  have  attained  such 
place  and  power  in  a  community,  the  gospel  must  have  been 
preached  there  within  the  limits  of  that  generation  w4ien  the 
prediction  was  uttered. 

The  Beginning  op  Sorrows. 
The  Prediction:  "And  there  shall  be  famines  and  earthquakes  in 
divers  places.     But  all  these  things  are  but  the  beginning  of  travail."*^ 
"  And  there  shall  be  great  earthquakes,  and  in  divers  places  famines 
and  pestilence."  ®^ 

The  Fulfillment:  These  phenomena  of  nature,  which  oc- 
curred during  that  generation,  were  very  marked  as  regards 
both  frequency  and  severity.     Luke  records  the 

^  ■J  -J  8369.  Predicted 

prediction  of  the  Prophet  Agabus  respecting  a         Famine 
famine  which  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Claudius ;         ^^  °"*^  ' 
a  famine  which  lasted  through  several  years  and  spread  far 
and  wide.*^    Eusebius  also  refers  to  it,  and  remarks : 

"In  his  reign  there  was  a  famine  that  prevailed  over  the  vrhole 
world;  an  event  which  has  been  handed  down  by  historians  [who  are] 
very  far  from  our  doctrine  ;  and  by  which  the  prediction  of  the  Prophet 
Agabus,  recorded  in  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  respecting  the  impending 
famine  over  the  whole  world,  received  its  fulfillment."^ 

But  there  are  other  historical  notices  of  prevailing  famine. 
Josephus  confirms  Luke's  account,  by  relating  how  that,  at  that 
time,  Queen  Helen  relieved  Jerusalem  by  furnishing  food  for 
the  hungry  in  the  stress  of  famine;**  Dion  Cassius,  in  his  his- 

*  Ann.  XV,  44. 

89  Epis.  to  Trajan,  x,  97.  s^Matt.  xxiv,  7,  8.  «'  Luke  xxi,  11. 

92  Acts  xl,  28.  ^^Eccl.  Hist.  11,  8.  «<  A  nt.  xx,  2,  5;  xx,  5,  2. 


524  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tory,  also  mentions  the  famine  as  severely  afflicting  Rome  and 
all  Italy .^  Tacitus  remarks  the  fact,  affirming  "a  failure  in 
the  crops,"  which  was  "regarded  as  a  prodigy,  and  that,  "It  is 
certain  that  there  was  then  in  Rome  provision  for  only  fifteen 
days."**  Suetonius  mentions  "a  scarcity  of  provisions  occa- 
sioned by  bad  crops  for  several  successive  years,"  on  account 
of  which  the  populace  thronged  about  and  abused  the  em- 
peror, threatening  personal  violence,  he  with  "some  difficulty 
escaping  into  the  palace  by  a  back  door!"^^ 

Josephus  relates  that  about  the  year  40  "  a  pestilence  came 
upon  those  at  Babylon"  from  which  the  Jews  suffered  ex- 
tremely.    And  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
lence  and^"     there    "  Came   a  pestilential    destruction    upon 
Earthquakes     them,  and  soon  after  such  a  famine  as  destroyed 

Historical.  '  "^ 

them  more  suddenly."  ^  As  regards  earthquakes, 
Eusebius  mentions  three  cities,  "Laodicea,  Hieropolis,  and  Co- 
losse,  which  were  overthrown  by  earthquakes."  ^  Tacitus  states 
that  "  Many  prodigies  happened  this  year ;  .  .  .  frequent 
earthquakes  occurred."^*"  Seneca  also  mentions  this  great 
calamity,^'"  which  occurred  about  A.  D.  65  or  63.  Tacitus 
adds: 

"  This  year  .  .  .  was  by  the  gods  branded  with  storm  and  pesti- 
lences." He  mentions  a  whirlwind  whose  "  violence  extended  so  far  as 
the  neighborhood  of  the  city  of  Rome,  in  which  a  tei-rible  pestilence 
was  sweeping  away  every  living  thing,  without  any  discernible  derange- 
ment of  the  atmosphere,  though  the  houses  were  filled  with  the  dead, 
and  the  streets  with  funerals.  Neither  sex  nor  age  was  exempt  from 
danger;  bondmen  and  free  were  snatched  off  indiscriminately,  amid  the 
wailing  of  wives  and  children,  who,  while  they  were  yet  attending  and 
lamenting  them,  were  themselves  seized  and  frequently  burned  on  the 
same  funeral  pile."^''^ 

Aloner  with  the  disturbances  in  the  course  of 

§371.  Wars  *=  ,.  ,  j,  , 

and  Tumults     nature  were  the  disturbances  of  human  society. 
Historical.      ^^  reason  of  tumults  and  wars  experienced  in 
that  generation,  which  begot  sorrows. 

«6 //w(.  0/ JBome,  1,  49,  60.  ««^nnais,  xll,  48.  ^t  Claudius,  xix. 

»«  IFars,  vi,  9, 3.  ^  Chron.  p.  Idl.  ioo^„,iaZs,  xii,  43. 

JO"  Quaest.  Nat.  Q.  vl,  1.  ^Annals,  xvl,  18. 


JEWISH  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       525 

The  Prediction:  "And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars. 
See  that  ye  be  not  troubled,  for  these  things  must  needs  come  to  pass; 
but  the  end  is  not  yet.  For  nation  shall  rise  up  against  nation,  and 
kingdom  against  kingdom."'"^  "But  when  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and 
tumults,  be  not  terrified:  for  these  things  must  needs  come  first;  but 
the  end  is  not  immediately."  ^^ 

The  Fulfillment:  About  the  year  40,  at  Seleucia,  the 
Greeks  and  Syrians  united  against  the  Jews;  "they  fell  upon 
them  and  slew  about  fifty  thousand  of  them;  nay,  the  Jews 
were  all  destroyed  excepting  a  few  who  escaped."  ^°^  Cuspius 
Fadus,  having  become  procurator  of  Judaea  (44-46),  "found 
quarrelsome  doings  between  the  Jews  that  dwelt  in  Peraea 
and  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  about  their  borders  at  a 
village  called  Mia,  that  was  filled  with  men  of  warlike  temper ; 
for  the  Jews  of  Peraea  had  taken  up  arms,  .  .  .  and  had 
destroyed  many  of  the  Philadelphians."  ^"^  A  celebrated  quar- 
rel and  tumult  arose  under  Cumanus  (48-50),  between  the 
Jews  and  Samaritans,  resulting  in  the  killing  of  many  on  both 
sides,  the  crucifixion  of  some,  and  the  deposing  and  banish- 
ment of  Cumanus  himself.^"^  In  a  contest  between  the  Jews 
and  Syrians,  "the  daytime  was  spent  in  slaughter,  and  the 
night  in  fear,"  until  "the  cities  were  filled  with  dead  bod- 
jgg»io8  "Those  of  Askelon  slew  twenty-five  hundred,  and 
those  of  Ptolemais  two  thousand ;  those  of  Tyre  put  a  great 
many  to  death,  but  kept  a  greater  number  in  prison."  ^^  In 
Damascus,  ten  thousand  unarmed  Jews  were  slain  in  a  gymna- 
sium, in  one  hour's  time."°  "Above  thirteen  thousand  Jews 
were  killed"  in  a  night,  and  plundered  of  all  they  had.^"  At 
Csesarea,  in  one  hour's  time,  twenty  thousand  Jews  were  slain, 
"and  all  Csesarea  emptied  of  its  Jewish  inhabitants."  There- 
upon the  Jewish  nation  arose  and  destroyed  about  fifteen  cit- 
ies, and  many  of  the  villages  near  these  cities  they  plundered, 
together  with  an  immense  slaughter  of  men  in  the  villages."^ 
At  Alexandria,  "fifty  thousand  of  them  [the  Jews]  lay  down 

103  Matt,  xxiv,  6,  7.  iM  Luke  xxl,  9, 10. 

los  ^n«.  xvlii,  9,  9.  los  lb.  xx,  1,  1.  i"'  lb.  xx,  6,  1-3.  los  Wars,  11,  18,  2 

109  76.11,  18,  .5.  110  7  6.11,20,2.  m  i6.  11,  18, 3.  11*76.11,18,1. 

34 


526         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

upon  heaps,  nor  had  the  remainder  been  preserved  had  they 
not  betaken  themselves  to  supplication."  "^  A  Eoman  soldier 
offering  a  gross  and  vulgar  insult  to  the  Jews  at  the  Passover 
at  Jerusalem,  a  furor  was  raised,  and  the  Roman  army  sta- 
tioned at  the  garrison  Antonia  were  summoned  to  quiet  the 
tumult,  and  twenty  thousand  Jews  were  killed,  which  caused 
mourning  throughout  the  nation.^" 

Tacitus,  in  opening  his  celebrated  Roman  History,  allud- 
ing to  Servius  Galba  and  his  first  consulship  (A.  D.  33)  and 
afterwards,  says: 

"The  period  before  me  is  fertile  in  vicissitudes,  pregnant  with 
sanguinary  encounters,  embroiled  with  intestine  dissensions,  and  in  the 
intervals  of  peace,  defoi'med  with  hoi-rors.  Four  princes  put  to  death ; 
three  civil  wars  ;  with  foreign  enemies  more  ;  and  in  some  conjunctures, 
both  at  once ;  Italy  afflicted,  moj-eover,  with  calamities  unheard  of,  or 
occurring  after  a  long  series  of  ages ;  cities  overwhelmed  or  swallowed 
up  by  earthquakes  in  the  fertile  country  of  Campania;  Rome  laid 
waste  by  fire ;  her  most  ancient  temples  destroyed ;  the  Capitol  itself 
wrapped  in  flames  by  the  hands  of  citizens  ;  .  .  .  the  sea  crowded  with 
exiles  ;  the  rocks  stained  with  blood  of  murdered  citizens  ;  Rome  itself  a 
theater  of  still  greater  horrors.  .  .  They  carried  rapine  and  plunder 
in  every  direction,  impelled  by  personal  hate  and  armed  with  terror.""^ 

Such  is  but  a  part  of  the  melancholy  picture  of  the   times, 

fulfilling  the  prediction  of  Jesus  respecting  "  the  beginning  of 

travail"  to  be  experienced  by  that  generation  before  the  final 

catastrophe"  comes. 

The  Signs  of  Warning. 

The  Prediction:  "  When  ye  see  Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies, 
then  know  that  her  desolation  is  at  hand.  Then  let  them  that  are  in 
Judciea  flee  unto  the  mountains ;  and  let  them  that  are  in  the  midst  of 
her  depart  out;  and  let  not  them  that  are  in  the  country  enter  therein.  • 
For  these  are  the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  which  are  written 
may  be  fulfilled."  "And  not  a  hair  of  your  head  shall  perish.""^ 
"  When  ye  see  the  abomination  of  desolation  which  was  spoken  of  by 
Daniel  the  prophet  standing  in  the  Holy  Place,  let  them  that  are  in  Ju- 
daea flee  to  the  mountains ;  let  him  that  is  upon  the  housetop  not  come 
down  to  take  out  the  things  that  are  in  the  house ;  and  let  him  that  is 
in  the  field  not  return  back  to  take  his  cloak."  "^ 


118  Wars,  11, 18,  8.  i"  >l»i<.  xx,  5,  3.  "5  Hist.  B.  1,  2.  "o  Luke  xxl,  18-22. 

117  Matt,  xxlv,  15-18;  Mark,  xill,  14. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       527 

By  "abomination,  of  desolation"  is  meant  the  abomination 
which  desolates — a  Hebraism.  The  reference  is  to  the  Roman 
eaffles  borne  by  the  Roman  soldiery  at  the  head 

.  §  372.  "  The 

of  the  several  legions,  and  were  the  objects  of  Abomination  of 
Roman  worship,  by  which  also  they  took  their 
oath  of  loyalty  to  the  empire,  but  were  the  objects  of  detesta- 
tion to  the  Jews.  The  eagles,  therefore,  became  the  symbols 
of  the  victors.  Now,  the  Jews  were  taught  that  they  were 
prohibited  by  the  Mosaic  "Commandments"  from  counte- 
nancing any  made  or  graven  image  of  anything  in  heaven  or 
earth;  and  the  Roman  eagles  were  " images." ^^^  As  images 
led  to  idolatory,  the  Jews'  susceptibilities  were  extremely  sen- 
sitive on  this  point,  and  they  would  not  suffer  the  presence  of 
these  standards  even  in  Jerusalem,  if  they  could  avoid  it, 
much  less  within  the  inclosure  of  the  temple  grounds.  On 
one  occasion  Pilate  thought  to  impose  his  eagles  upon  this 
people  by  stealthily  bringing  them  into  the  city  by  night ;  but 
upon  the  discovery  of  it  there  was  a  tumult  raised  which  he 
could  not  repress;  and  he  felt  necessitated  to  remove  them 
back  to  his  headquarters  at  Caesarea-on-the-Sea.'^^  Once  Herod 
the  Great  dedicated  a  large  golden  eagle  to  the  temple, 
placing  it  upon  the  great  gate  to  the  entrance,  when  one  Mat- 
thias, one  of  the  men  of  eloquence  and  great  interpreters  of 
the  law,  instigated  pulling  it  down  and  destroying  it;  for 
which  Matthias  was  burned  alive  as  a  seditionist  by  the  king's 
orders.^^  So  Vitellius,  president  of  Syria,  to  whose  dominions 
Judaea  was  attached,  while  marching  his  army  through  the 
Jews'  country  to  attack  Aretas,  the  king  of  Petraea,  was  pre- 
vailed upon  by  the  earnest  protest  of  the  principal  Jews  to 
bear  his  eagles  by  another  route.^^  Now,  because  of  the  gen- 
eral but  not  universal  apostasy  from  God,  the  Roman  eagles, 
however  much  an  "abomination"  to  Jewish  taste  and  in- 
stincts, symbolized  the  Roman  power  which  was  to  destroy 

ii8.4n<.  xvii,  6,  2.  "9/6.  xvlii,  3,  1;   T^ars,  11,  9,  2,  3. 

1S0.4  nt.  xvll,  6,  2-4.  ^i  jb,  xvill,  5,  3. 


528         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  and  "stand  in  the  holy  place"  as 
"the  abomination  which  desolates"  the  sacred  places  of  their 
worship. 

The  Fulfillment:   The  time  had  come  in  that  generation 

when  a  military  movement  was  inaugurated  against  the  Jews, 

^   ^.        by  which  the  Christians  of  that  community  should 

S  373.  The  Siege      *^       .  _  -^ 

of  cognize  the  signs  of  warning,  and  make  good 

Jerusalem.         ,,     .  i!  j.i  rs?     •  ,  t 

their  escape  from  the  suiierings  to  come.  Jesus 
had  said:  "When  ye  see  Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies, 
then  know  that  her  desolation  is  at  hand."  "And  not  a  hair 
of  your  head  shall  perish."  For  certain  reasons,  Cestius 
Gallas,  president  of  Syria,  marched  his  army  to  the  Holy 
City  and  besieged  it.  This  was  the  first  investment  of  Jeru- 
salem. Josephus  relates  that  this  brief  siege  was  made  in 
the  twelfth  year  of  Nero  (54-68),  which  would  be  in  the 
year  66  A.  D,  of  the  current  Christian  era;*  and  that,  after 
burning  certain  portions  of  the  city,  Cestius  pitched  his  camp 
over  against  the  royal  palace.     He  adds : 

"  Had  he  at  this  very  time  attempted  to  get  within  the  walls  by 
force  he  had  won  the  city  presently,  and  the  war  had  been  put  an  end  to 
at  once."  "And  now  it  was  that  a  horrible  fear  seized  upon  the  sedi- 
tious [Jews]  insomuch  that  many  of  them  ran  out  of  the  city  as  though 
it  were  to  be  taken  immediately."  .  .  .  But  instead,  "  he  recalled 
his  soldiers  from  the  place,  and  despairing  of  any  expectation  of  taking 
it,  without  receiving  any  disgrace,  he  retired  from  the  city  without  any  rea- 
son in  the  world."  "After  this  calamity  had  befallen  Cestius,  many  of 
the  most  eminent  of  the  Jews  forsook  the  city  as  men  do  a  sinking  ship."^^^ 

This  was  the  opportune  moment  for  the  escape  of  the  Jew- 
ish Christians  of  that  community  from  the  awful  calamities 
«^„.   r,,^  ^      which  were  to  come  in  the  near  future.      The 

8  374.  The  Es- 
cape of  the      day  for  which  they  had  watched  and  waited,  as 

Christ  had  admonished  them,  was  now  at  hand ; 

for,  as  remarked  by  Dr.  Philip  Schaff : 

"  The  Christians  of  Jerusalem,  remembering  the  Lord's  admoni- 
tion, forsook  the  doomed  city  in  good  time,  and  fled  to  the  town  of  Pella 

*Eu9eblus  places  the  escape  before  the  war  under  Titus   (irpb  rod  noX^/iov) 
which  agrees  with  the  above  date— four  years  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
In  A.  D.  70. 

iM  Wars,  U,  19,  6,  7;  and  note,  and  11,  20, 1. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       529 

in  the  Decapolis,  beyond  the  Jordan,  in  the  noi-th  of  Persea,  where 
Herod  Agrippa  II,  before  whom  Paul  once  stood,  opened  to  them  a 
safe  asylum.  An  old  tradition  says  that  a  divine  voice,  or  angel,  re- 
vealed to  their  leaders  the  duty  of  flight.  There,  in  the  midst  of 
a  population  chiefly  Gentile,  the  Church  of  the  Circumcision  was  re- 
consti'ucted.  Unfortunately,  its  history  is  hidden  from  us.  But  [the 
city]  never  recovered  its  former  importance.  When  Jerusalem  was 
rebuilt  as  a  Christian  city,  its  bishop  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  one  of 
the  four  Patriarchs  of  the  East,  but  it  was  a  patriarchate  of  honor,  not 
of  power,  and  sank  to  a  mere  shadow  after  the  Mohammedan  invasion. ^^^ 

Eusebius,  the  author  of  the  first  Christian  history  which 

has  been  handed  down  to  us,  gives  the  following  account  of 

the  exodus  of  the  Christians  from  Jerusalem : 

"The  rest  of  the  apostles,  who  were  harassed  in  innumerable 
ways  with  a  view  to  destroy  them,  and  driven  from  the  land  of  Judsea, 
had  gone  forth  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  nations,  relying  upon  the  aid 
of  Christ,  when  he  said:  '  Go  ye,  teach  all  nations  in  my  name.'  The 
whole  body,  however,  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  having  been  com- 
manded by  a  Divine  revelation,  given  to  men  of  approved  piety  there 
before  the  war,  removed  from  the  city,  and  dwelt  in  a  certain  town 
beyond  the  Jordan  called  Pella.  Here  those  that  believed  in  Christ 
having  removed  from  Jerusalem,  as  if  holy  men  had  entirely  abandoned 
the  royal  city  itself  and  the  whole  land  of  Judaea,  the  Divine  Justice 
for  their  crimes  against  Christ  and  his  apostles  finally  overtook  them, 
totally  destroying  the  whole  generation  of  these  evil-doers  from  the 
earth."  124 

Epiphanius,  who  lived  a  little  earlier,^^  mentions  the  Chris- 
tians dwelling  in  Jerusalem,  as  being  warned  by  Christ  of  the 
approaching  siege  and  removing  to  Pella,  being  warned  by  an 
angel;  and  in  another  book  he  speaks  of  the  return  of  the 
Christians  thence  afterwards,  when  Hadrian  had  rebuilt  the 
city,  calling  it  by  his  own  name,  ^lia  Colonia.  As  respects 
the  failure  of  the  Jews  pent  up  in  Jerusalem  to  regard  the 
signs  of  the  approaching  doom  which  was  about  to  destroy 
the  temple  and  city,  and  to  overthrow  and  displace  their 
apostate  nation  for  having  crucified  the  Christ  of  God, 
Josephus,  though  not  conscious  of  that  cause,  remarks : 

"  It  is  not  possible  for  men  to  avoid  fate,  although  they  may  see  it 
beforehand.     But  these  men  interpreted  some  of  these  signs  according 

188  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1,  402.  "^  Eccl.  Hist.  B.  Hi,  5. 

125  About  A.  D.  310,  Hares  Nazarceorvm.  c.  7. 


530         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

to  their  own  pleasure ;  and  some  of  them  they  utterly  despised,  until 
their  madness  was  demonstrated  both  by  the  taking  of  the  city  and  their 
own  destruction."  ^^^ 

Accomplished  in  that  Generation. 

The  Prediction :     Jesus  exposed  the  sins  and  hypocrisy  of 
scribes   and  Pharisees   present  before  the    multitude,  as  the 
leaders  of  the  apostate  people ;  yet  with  sympa- 
venJeanc^Tn    '^^1    ^^^   tendemess    did    he    even   weep   and 
that  Genera-     lament   as  he  predicted  the    doom    impending 
over  that  generation,   which   meant   the   com- 
plete  destruction  of   the  nation.     He  said : 

"  Behold,  I  send  unto  you  prophets  and  wise  men  and  scribes  ;  some 
of  them  ye  will  kill  and  crucify ;  and  some  of  them  ye  will  scourge  in 
your  synagogues,  and  persecute  from  city  to  city ;  that  upon  you  may 
come  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  on  the  earth,  from  the  blood  of  Abel 
the  righteous  unto  the  blood  of  Zachariah  son  of  Barachiah,  whom  ye 
slew  between  the  sanctuary  and  the  altar.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  all 
these  things  shall  come  upon  this  generation. 

"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killeth  the  prophets,  and  stoneth 
them  that  are  sent  unto  her!  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not!  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you 
desolate !"  ^27 

"  And  when  he  drew  nigh  he  saw  the  city  and  wept  over  it,  saying: 
If  thou  hadst  known  in  this  day,  even  thou,  the  things  which  belong  unto 
peace !  but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes.  For  the  days  shall  come 
upon  thee  when  thine  enemies  shall  cast  up  a  bank  ^^s  ^bout  thee,  and 
compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side,  and  shall  dash  thee  to 
the  ground,  and  thy  childi-en  within  thee  ;  and  they  shall  not  leave  in  thee 
one  stone  upon  another;  because  thou  knowest  not  the  time  of  thy 
visitation."  "  For  these  are  the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  which 
are  written  may  be  fulfilled.  .  .  .  And  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  and  shall  be  led  captive  into  all  the  nations ;  and  Jerusa- 
lem shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gen- 
tiles be  fulfilled.  .  .  .  But  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass, 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads;  because  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh.  .  .  .  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  This  generation  shall  not  pass 
away  till  all  things  be  accomplished.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away  ;  but  my  word  sliall  not  pass  away."  ^"^ 

i2«  Wars,  Vl,  5,  4.  >27  Matt.  xxUl,  .34-38. 

'**  '0  X'^/'«?.  ^  palisade;  i.  e.,  rows  of  pales  between  which  earth,  stones,  and 
timbers  were  heaped  and  packed  together  as  a  rampart  for  defense, 
>2»  Luke  xlx,  41-44;  xxl,  22-24,  28,  32,  33. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       531 

For  clearness  of  statement,  circumstantiality  of  fulfillment 
in  history,  and  for  tenderness  of  pathos  in  the  prophet,  the 
Scriptures  contain  no  parallel  to  this  prediction  of  Christ.  It 
seems  remarkable  that  no  apostle  or  Evangelist  makes  any 
reference  to  the  terrible  calamities  denounced  against  that 
generation,  especially  as  the  destruction  of  the  temple  is  men- 
tioned by  heathen  and  Jewish  historians  who  were  contem- 
porary with  the  event  described.  Barnabas,  the  Apostolic 
Father,  who  wrote  A.  D.  70-79,  states  that  the  temple  was 
destroyed  accordant  with  the  purpose  of  God,  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Jews,  through  war.  But  such  mention  of  the  catastro- 
phe only  renders  the  more  conspicuous  the  neglect  of  the 
sacred  writers.  But  the  satisfactory  explanation  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  the  Synoptic  Gospels  and  all  the  Epistles  were 
written  some  years  prior  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  prediction, 
and  not  one  was  a  witness  of  the  event.  These  Gospels  contain 
the  prediction,  but  not  its  realization.  According  to  Clement 
of  Alexandria  (b.  150),  Matthew  continued  his  stay  at  Jeru- 
salem with  the  other  apostles,  busy  with  his  countrymen  for  a 
period  of  twelve  years  after  the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  After 
that  they  were  abroad,  "teaching  all  nations,"  accordant  with 
their  great  commission.  When,  then,  the  Evangelists  had  re- 
corded the  prophecy,  their  work  was  done ;  and  the  realization 
and  vindication  of  the  prediction  was  left  to  its  development 
in  history  and  record  by  those  who  were  enemies  of  Christ 
Josephus  and  the  Talmudists  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  and 
Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  Dion  Cassius  on  the  part  of  the  heathen 
historians,  witness  to  the  historical  fulfillment  of  Christ's  pre- 
diction respecting  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  its  temple. 

The  Fulilllment :   The  prophecy  contains  sev- 

''  r      1  J  §376.  Partic- 

eral  specific  predictions,  the  evidence  of  whose  cir-  uiars  in  the 
cumstantial  realization  may  now  be  considered  in  ^^®"^^<^^°°- 
detail. 

a)  ''''For  the  days  will  come  when  thine  enemies  will  cast  a 
hank  about  theeP 


532         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Josephus  says  that, 

Titus  "  ordered  that  they  should  bring  timber  together,  and  raise 
banks  against  the  city.  .  .  .  He  placed  those  that  shot  darts  and  the 
archers  in  the  midst  of  the  banks  that  they  were  then  raising."  ^^  "  So 
now  Titus's  banks  were  advanced  a  great  way."^^^ 

/8)  "  And  they  will  compass  thee  round  and  keep  thee  in  on 
every  side^'' 

Alford,  in  his  Greek  Testamient^  says:  "When  the  Jews 
destroyed  this  [military  palisade]  Titus  built  a  wall  around 
them,  to  which  the  Lord  tacitly  refers."  ^^ 

Tacitus  says : 

"Such  was  the  city  and  such  the  nation  against  which  Titus  Csesar 
determined  to  act  by  means  of  mounds  and  mantelets  ;  such  being  the 
nature  of  the  locality,  it  was  adverse  to  assault  and  sudden  attack."  ^^ 

Josephus  says  that  Titus  told  his  officers  that, 

"  They  [the  Romans]  must  build  a  wall  about  the  whole  city,  .  .  . 
the  only  way  to  prevent  the  Jews  from  coming  out  in  any  way  .  .  .  that, 
besides  this  wall,  ...  he  would  take  care  then  to  have  the  banks 
raised  again.  These  arguments  prevailed  with  the  commanders.  So 
Titus  ordered  that  the  army  should  be  distributed  to  their  several  shares 
of  the  work.  .  .  .  Now,  the  length  of  the  wall  was  forty  furlongs, 
one  only  abated  [nearly  five  miles  long].  .  .  .  The  whole  was  com- 
pleted in  three  days,  .  .  .  in  so  short  an  interval  of  time  as  is  in- 
credible. ...  So  all  hope  of  escape  was  now  cut  off  from  the  Jews, 
together  with  all  liberty  of  going  out  of  the  city." 

"  When  Titus  had  therefore  encompassed  the  city  with  this  wall, 
and  put  garrisons  into  proper  places,  he  went  round  the  wall  at  the 
first  watch  of  the  night,  and  observed  how  the  guard  was  kept ;  the 
second  watch  was  allotted  to  Alexander ;  the  commander  of  legions  took 
the  third  watch."  ^^^ 

y)  "  For  there  shall  he  great  tribulation,  such  as  there  hath 
not  been  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  until  now,  no,  nor  ever 
shall  be:' '^ 

Josephus  continues : 

"  Then  did  the  famine  widen  its  progress,  and  it  devoured  the  people 
by  whole  houses  and  families ;  the  upper  rooms  were  full  of  women  and 
children  dying  of  famine ;  and  the  lanes  of  the  city  were  full  of  dead 

180  Wars  V,  6,  2.        isi  lb.  v,  11, 1.        ^^'Commcntary  on  Luke  xlx,  43,  In  Vol.  I,  «25i 
i^Hist.  V.  13.  134  Wars,  v,  12, 1,  2;  comp.  Isa.  xxlx,  1-8. 

»3s  Matt,  xxiv,  21 ;  Mark  xlli,  19. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       533 

bodies  of  the  aged  ;  the  children  also,  and  the  young  men  wandering 
about  the  market-places  like  shadows,  all  swelled  with  famine,  and  fell 
down  dead  wheresoever  their  misery  seized  them.  .  .  .  Nor  was 
there  any  lamentation  made  under  these  calamities,  nor  were  heard  any 
mournful  complaints ;  but  the  famine  confounded  all  natural  passion ; 
for  those  who  were  just  going  to  die  looked  upon  those  who  were  gone 
before  them  with  dry  eyes  and  open  mouths.  A  deep  silence  also,  and  a 
kind  of  deadly  night,  had  seized  upon  the  city."  ^^ 

8)  "  They  shall  dash  thee  to  the  ground,  and  thy  children 
within  thee.^'' 

Josephus  continues  the  story  of  the  siege  in  fulfillment  of 
Christ's  prediction : 

"  Many  of  the  eminent  citizens  told  [Titus  that]  .  .  .  the  entire 
number  of  the  poor  that  were  dead  [were]  no  fewer  than  six  hundred 
thousand  [who]  were  thrown  out  of  the  gates,  though  still  the  number 
of  the  rest  could  not  be  discovered ;  and  they  told  him,  further,  that 
when  they  were  no  longer  able  to  carry  out  the  dead  bodies  of  the  poor, 
they  laid  the  corpses  on  heaps  in  very  large  houses,  and  shut  them  up 
therein."  1^7 

"  Manneus,  the  son  of  Lazarus,  came  running  to  Titus,  .  .  .  and 
told  him  that  there  had  been  carried  out  through  that  one  gate  which 
had  been  intrusted  to  his  care,  no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
thousand,  eight  hundred  and  eighty  dead  bodies."  ^^  "  Simon  took  the 
tower  into  his  own  custody,  and  seized  upon  these  men  [whom  he  sus- 
pected of  treachery],  and  put  them  to  death  in  the  sight  of  the  Romans ; 
and  when  they  had  mangled  their  bodies,  he  threw  them  down  before  the 
vmll  of  the  city.''  ^^^  "  Now  the  seditious  at  first  gave  orders  that  the  dead 
should  be  buried  out  of  the  public  treasury,  as  not  enduring  the  stench 
of  their  dead  bodies.  But  afterwards,  when  they  could  not  do  that, 
they  cast  them  down  from  the  walls  into  the  valleys  beneath."  ''"' 

e)  "  And  they  will  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another, 
hecause  thou  hnewest  not  the  day  of  thy  visitation.  For  these 
are  the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  which  are  written  may 
he  fulfilled:' 

The  siege  is  drawing  near  its  crisis  and  close.  Josephus, 
himself  a  Jewish  commander,  but  now  captured 

'  ^  §377,  Be^nning 

yet  allowed  large  privileges  at  the  headquarters  of  the 

J.   ,1       -n  1  •,  n       Desolation. 

of  the  Koman  army,  becomes  an  eyewitness  or 

the  final  overthrow  of  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem.    In  his  Histories 


138  Wars,  V,  12, 3.       i"  lb.  v,  13,  7.       iM  76.  v,  13, 7.       i89  /^.  y,  13,  2,  close, 
iw/ft.  V,  12,  3,  close. 


534         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

he  says  that,  "This  war  began  in  the  second  year  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Florus  [as  procurator],  and  the  twelfth  year  of  the 
reign  of  Nero,"  which  was  also  the  seventeenth  year  of  Herod 
Agrippa  II,  corresponding  to  May  A.  D.  66.^*^  It  was  in  the 
month  of  July  of  that  year  that  Titus  made  a  night  assault, 
surprising  the  Jews  and  capturing  the  castle  Antonia.  This 
was  a  great  gain,  making  easy  the  early  capture  of  the  temple. 
On  the  seventeenth  of  the  same  month  "the  daily  sacrifice 
failed  at  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  for  the  want  of  men  to 
offer  it :  and  the  people  were  erievously  troubled 

§378.  Sacrifices         .         '  . 

ceased  at  it."  According  to  Whiston,  this  fact  was  the 
literal  fulfillment  of  DanieFs  prediction  made 
606  years  previously,  but  now  the  realization  is  brouglit  to 
pass  by  Titus:  '■''Andfor  the  half  of  the  week  he  sJiall  cause  the 
sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease  f  "  for  from  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, A.  D.  66,  about  which  time  Vespasian  entered  on  this 
war  to  this  very  time,  was  just  three  years  and  a  half."  On 
learning  of  the  discontinuance  of  the  Jews'  sacrifice,  Titus 
himself  informed  John,  one  of  the  Jewish  chiefs,  "that  he 
might,  if  he  pleased,  offer  the  sacrifices  which  were  discon- 
tinued, by  any  of  the  Jews  whom  he  might  pitch  upon."  He 
also  had  Josephus  appeal  to  them  in  the  same  manner.  But 
John*  was  incorrigible,  and  replied  "that  he  never  did  fear  the 
taking  of  the  city,  because  it  was  God's  o\xn  city."  Josephus 
replied : 

"  But  thou  hopest  to  have  God  for  thy  supporter  in  this  war,  whom 
thou  hast  deprived  of  his  everlasting  worship  ;  and  thou  imputest  those 
sins  to  the  Romans  who  at  this  very  time,  take  care  to  have  our  laws 
observed,  and  almost  compel  those  sacrifices  to  be  ofifered  to  God  which 
by  thy  means  have  been  intermitted."  "^ 

*The  three  Jewish  chieftains  were  Simon  son  of  Gioras,  who  commanded 
fifteen  thousand  men  occupying  Mount  Zlon;  John  of  Oischola,  with  six  thousand 
Slcaril  or  robbers  and  others,  occupied  Acra  on  the  north,  and  the  outer  temple 
courts;  while  Eleazar  son  of  Simon,  the  treasurer  of  the  temple,  commanded  two 
thousand  four  hundred  men  in  the  Inner  courts  of  the  temple.  These  three  camps 
were  Implacable  In  hate  for  each  other,  and  fought  desperately  when  not  engaged 
with  the  Romans,  their  common  enemy. 

i«  Ant.  XX,  11, 1;  see  Lard,  vl,  p.  407. 

i*>  Wars,  vl,  2, 1,  and  notes;  comp.  Dan.  Ix,  27. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       535 

If^ow  it  is  a  marveloua  fact  that  the  Mosaic  sacrifices  ha/oe 
never  heen  resumed,  from  the  seventeenth  of  July  A.  D.  70 
until  this  day  ! 

Josephus  relates:  "  So  Titus  retired  to  the  tower  Antonia,  resolved 
to  storm  tlie  temple  the  next  day  early  in  the  morning  with  his  whole 
army,  and  to  encamp  round  the  Holy  House.     But  as  for 
that  house,  God  had  for  certain  doomed  it  to  the  fire;      ^^^'  ^^® 
and  now  the  fatal  day  was  come,  according  to  the  revolu-        Burned 
tion  of  the  ages.     It  was  the  tenth  day  of  the  month  Lous 
JAb,  i.  e.,  August]  upon  which  it  was  formerly  burnt  by  the  king  of 
Babylon."     (  B.  0.  588;  viz.,  Nebuchadnezzar;    and  also  B.  C.  63,  by 
Pompey  the  Great. )i*3 

The  storming  party  of  the  Romans  were  successful  in  cap- 
turing the  sacred  grounds,  and  all  hope  of  the  Jews  died  in 
them.^**  In  their  fright,  they  forsook  their  own  walls  which 
seemed  almost  impregnable,  upon  which  the  battering  rams  of 
the  enemy  had  thundered  lor  six  days  without  making  any 
impression.^^  The  contending  factions,  led  by  Simon  and 
John,  betook  themselves  to  flight,  but  could  not  effect  their 
escape  owing  to  the  wall  and  soldiery  of  the  Romans  surround- 
ing the  city.  Many  concealed  themselves  in  the  caves  and 
caverns  beneath  the  temple  and  elsewhere,  within  the  area  of 
the  outer  walls.  The  streets  and  houses  were  filled  with  the 
dead  everywhere.  The  spectacle  was  that  of  complete  desola- 
tion and  solitude  created  in  the  midst  of  a  city  ;  so  that  in  the 
final  onset,  when  the  Romans  mounted  the  ramparts,  they  were 
amazed  at  the  silence  and  ruin  which  had  been  wrought  by 
famine,  flames,  and  death.^*  All  that  was  now  left  for  the 
Jews  to  do,  was  for  each  one  to  make  the  best  terms  he  could 
for  his  own  surrender. 

In  noting  these  events,  Dion  Cassius  remarks  "  a  certain 
superstitious  respect"  which  the  Jews  entertained  for  the  walls 
of  the  temple,  who  thought  "  themselves  happy  in  being  em- 
ployed to  fight  for  their  temple,  or  die  near  it ;"  but  that  when 
they  saw  their  sanctuary  in  flames, 

i«  Wars,  vl,  4,  5.  "<  lb.  vl,  4,  2.  i«  jft.  yl,  4, 1 ;  vi,  8,  4.  i«_n,.  yi^  g,  5. 


536         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

"  Some  surrendered  themselves,  some  yielded  to  be  killed,  some 
cast  themselves  into  the  fire;  "and  it  was  truly  imagined  by  all,  but 
especially  by  those  persons  [interested],  that  it  was  not  death,  but  to  be 
both  a  victory  and  a  deliverance  and  a  complete  happiness  that  they 
might  perish  along  with  the  temple.  And,  at  all  events,  so  truly  others 
were  captured,  even  bar-Gioras  their  leader ;  and,  indeed,  he  alone  in  the 
triumphal  procedures  was  punished  with  death.  So  assuredly  Jerusalem 
was  utterly  destroyed  on  that  day  of  Saturn  [i.  e.,  Saturday],  which  even  yet 
now  do  the  Jews  reverence  ."* 

S380  jerusa-  "^^^  ^^^^  itself,  however,  was  captured  the 
iem  Captured,  gth  day  of  September,  A.  D.  69.  f  Josephus 
now  expresses  this  melancholy  reflection : 

"  A  city  that  had  been  subject  to  so  many  miseries  during  the  siege 
that,  had  it  always  enjoyed  as  much  happiness  from  its  fii'st  foundation, 
it  would  have  certainly  been  the  envy  of  the  world.  Nor  did  it  on  any 
other  account  so  much  deserve  the  sore  misfortune  as  by  producing  such 
a  generation  of  men  as  were  the  occasion  of  this  overthrow."  ^^^ 

Suetonius  mentions  that  Titus,  having  been  left  by  his 
father  Vespasian  to  "  finish  the  reduction  of  Judaea,  in  his  final 
assault  of  Jerusalem,  .  .  .  took  it  upon  his  daughter's 
birthday."!^ 

The  city  of  Jerusalem  was  now  left  in  shapeless  ruins. 

The  temple,  with  its  wealth  of  associations  and  treasures  of 

gold,  was  reduced  to  ashes.     The  whole  aspect 

§381.  Jerusa-    °        '  ^ 

Iem  a  of  the  sacred  courts  was  a  dreary  desolation. 
The  magnificence  of  those  buildings,  once  pointed 
out  so  admiringly  by  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  those  others 
which  adorned  "Mount  Zion,  beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy 
of  the  whole  earth,  on  the  sides  of  the  north,"  had  forever  dis- 
appeared, "  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision,  leaving  not  a 
rack  behind."  Those  massive  walls  which  surrounded  and 
divided  the  city  were  leveled  to  the  ground,  excepting  a  por- 
tion on  the  western  side,  and  the  three  most  powerful  towers, 

*  Kai  e56Kei  iraffi  fikv,  /idXiffra  di  iKeivoi<^  o6x  ^''t  SKeOpo^,  dXXA  Kal  vIkt),  Kal 
ffcoTTjpia,  evdaifiovla  re  eipai,  6ti  tQ  va(^  avvair6WoivTo .  'EdXwcraj'  5'  odv  Kal  &^ 
&Woi  re,  Kal  6  BapTropS.^  6  ipx^v  adruv  Kal  ixbvo-  ye  oOro^  iv  toi<;'  fTriinKloi^ 
fKoXdffdr].  oiiTU)  fi^u  TO.  'l€po<r6\vfia  ii>  air-g  rif  rod  Kp6vov  r)p.ipq.,  ifv  fiaXicTTa  eri. 
Kal   vvv   'lovSatoi  ai^ovcnv,  i^dXero.      (Lib.  Ixvi,  I'e.spas.  ^^  6,  7. 

+  Suetonius'  Lives  of  the  (a'sam,  Titus,  p.  469,  Note  1. 

1"  Wars,  vl,  8,  5.  ^*»Ti/ ,ix,  v. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       537 

which  had  proved  to  be  absolutely  impregnable,  known  as 
Mariamne,  Phasael,  and  Hippicus,  which  are  still  standing 
near  the  gate  Yaffa.  These  had  belonged  to  Herod's  palace. 
After  the  conquest,  these  were  left  purposely  as  monuments  of 
the  complete  reduction  of  the  city  and  the  nation."^  Every- 
where throughout  the  city,  in  its  lanes  and  streets  and  courts ; 
underneath,  in  its  subterraneous  regions ;  above  ground,  in  the 
palaces  and  homes;  outside  the  walls,  and  down  along  the 
surrounding  valleys  and  ravines, — were  found,  in  heaps  and 
scattering,  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and  the  dying. 

The  victorious  Romans  now  brought  their  standards,  sur- 
mounted by  the  detested  eagles,  into  the  courts  of  the  temple, 
and,  placing  them  over  against  the  eastern  arate, 

'  ^  °  P  .       .  §382,  The 

proceeded  to  make  their  customary  sacrificial  Abomination 
offerings  in  thanksgiving  for  the  conquest  °  esoiation. 
achieved.^^  Then  was  realized  the  predicted  '■^abomination 
of  desolation  standing  in  the  holy  place.''''  "  They  placed  their 
ensigns  upon  the  towers,  and  made  joyful  acclamations  for  the 
victory  they  had  gained,  as  having  found  the  end  of  the 
war.'^'  And  to  complete  their  expression  of  admiration  for 
their  commander,  the  soldiers  assumed  to  bestow  upon  Titus 
the  title  of  Imperator.  It  was  merely  a  complimentary  title, 
for  his  father  Vespasian,  under  whose  authority  he  was  acting, 
was  at  that  time  the  emperor. 

Centuries  before  the  event,  Daniel  the  prophet  „  ggg  ,p.^^g 
had  forecast  the  situation  as  at  length  it  devel-    ^^^  go'I- 
oped  in  history.     He  predicted  that — 

"  The  people  of  the  prince  that  shall  come,  shall  destroy  the  city  and 
the  sanctuary,  and  the  end  thereof  shall  be  [as]  with  a  flood,  and  even  unto 
the  end  shall  be  war.  Desolations  are  determined.  He  shall  cause  the 
sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease;  and  upon  the  wing  of  abominations 
shall  come  one  that  maketh  desolate  ;  and  even  unto  the  consummation 
.     .     .     shall  wrath  be  poured  out  upon  the  desolate." '*2 

Titus  now  had  occasion  and  time  to  survey  the  situation  as 
wrought  by  famine,  pestilence,  and  war ;  not  only  the  desola- 

i«TFars,  vii,  1, 1.  ^^Ib.  vi,  6, 1.  >5»i6.  vl,  8,  5.  »« Dan.  Ix,  26,  27. 


538         Historical  Evidence  of  the  'Nbw  Testament. 

tion  effected  by  the  Romans,  but  that  eifected  within  the  city 
by  the  deadly  strifes  of  the  three  camps  under  the  leadership 
of  Simon,  John,  and  Eleazar.  Nothing  remained  but  "the 
tattered  fragments  of  departed  glory."  When  he  witnessed 
the  ruin  and  destruction  of  the  city  and  the  temple, — 

"He  gave  a  groan,  and  spreading  out  his  hands  to  heaven,  called 
God  to  witness  that  this  was  not  his  [own]  doing ;"'*3  that  "he  cer- 
tainly had  God  for  his  assistant  in  this  war;"^^*  that  "he  had  himself 
not  done  this  gi-eat  work,"  but  "  only  lent  a  hand  in  the  service  of  God 
when  he  was  pleased  to  show  his  displeasure  toward  that  nation ;  "  ^^^ 
and  that  "  it  was  God  who  put  down  by  force  the  Jews  from  their 
defenses."  ^^^ 

An  eloquent  Koman  lawyer  of  an  early  Christian  century, 
named  Minucius  Felix,  refers  the  Roman  people  to  Josephus, 
but  also  to  Antonius  Julianus,  a  Roman  author  and  historian 
of  this  Roman- Jewish  war,  as  one 

"From  whom  they  might  learn  that  the  Jews  had  not  been  ruined, 
nor  abandoned  of  God,  until  they  first  had  abandoned  him;  and  that 
their  present  low  condition  was  owing  to  their  [own]  wickedness  and 
obstinacy  therein ;  and  that  nothing  had  happened  to  them  but  what  had 
been  foretold."  ^^'' 

"  They  will  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another T  The 
depth  of  meaning  here  intended  may  now  receive  considera. 
„^„.   ^v.  ,  .,    ation.      This   Roman-Jewish   war   was   virtually 

8  384.  Christ's  "^ 

Prediction      ended   when  Jerusalem   was    captured   and   de- 
stroyed.    A  few  frontier  fortresses  to  which  the 
Jews  in  flight  found  refuge  remained,  and  were  not  all  taken 
until  the  year  73.     Meantime  Jerusalem  was  razed  to  the 
ground.     Josephus  witnesses  that — 

"Caesar  resolved  to  leave  there  as  a  guard  the  tenth  legion,  with 
certain  troops  of  horsemen  and  companies  of  footmen."  '^'Its  wall  was  so 
thoroughly  laid  even  with  the  ground  by  those  that  dug  it  up  to  the  founda- 
tion, that  there  was  left  nothing  to  make  those  that  came  thither  believe  it  had 
ever  been  inhabited.    This  was  the  end  which  Jerusalem  came  to  by  the 

Ksiyars,  v,  12,  4.  16477,.  vl,  9,  1. 

^^^Philosiratus  de  Vit.  1,  6,  c.  29,  cited  by  LMrd.  vi,  478. 

1**  0  Ge^j-  ^v  6  rCivBe  ipv/xdruv' lovSaiovg-  KadeXQv,  Wars,  vl,  9, 1;  cf.  vl,  8,  5. 

Incited  by  LMrd.  vi,  477. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Timks  of  the  New  Testament.       539 

madness  of  those  that  were  for  innovations — a  city  otherwise  of  great 
magnificence  and  of  mighty  fame  among  mankind. "^°* 

Eusebius  records : 

"All  this  occurred  in  this  manner,  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of 
Vespasian,  according  to  the  predictions  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  by  his  Divine  power,  foresaw  all  these  things  as  if  already 
present  at  the  time,  who  wept  and  mourned  indeed  at  the  prospect  as 
the  holy  Evangelists  show  in  their  writings."  "  How  can  one  fail  to  ac- 
knowledge and  wonder  at  the  truly  divine  and  extraordinary  foreknowl- 
edge and  prediction  of  our  Savior?  Concerning  the  events,  then,  that 
befell  the  Jews  after  our  Savior's  passion,  and  those  outcries  in  which 
the  multitude  of  the  Jews  refused  the  condemnation  of  a  robber  and 
murderer,  but  entreated  that  the  Prince  of  Life  should  be  destroyed,  it 
is  superfluous  to  add  to  the  statement  of  the  historian  [Josephus]." 
"The  occasion  of  their  being  so  great  a  multitude  of  people  at  Jerusa- 
.  lem  .  .  .  was,  that  it  was  the  time  of  the  Passover,  for  which  reason 
the  Jews,  having  come  up  from  all  parts  to  worship  at  the  temple,  were 
shut  in  the  city  as  in  a  prison.  And  indeed  it  was  Jit  that  they  should  be 
slain  at  the  same  time  [i.  e.,  at  the  Passover  time]  in  which  they  crucified 
our  Savior."  ^^^ 

Centuries  before  these  calamities  were  realized,  God's  proph- 
ets had  voiced  to  this  people  how  that  the  Divine  indignation 
was  unmistakably  kindled  against  them,  foretelling  the  doom 
which  would  certainly  overtake  them  if  they  persisted  in  their 
wickedness.  Precisely  what  did  occur  was  that  which  was  pre- 
dicted with  marvelous  circumstantiality.  Jeremiah,  quoting 
the  words  of  Micah,  said : 

"  Micah  the  Morasthite  prophesied  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  King  of 
Judah,  and  spake  to  all  the  people  of  Judah,  saying :  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts  :  Zion  shall  be  plowed  like  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps; 
and  the  mountain  of  the  house  [of  God]  as  the  high  places  of  the  forest."  ^^ 

As  to  the  fulfillment  of  this  repeated  prediction  of  the 
prophets,  confirmation  is  given  by  the  Talmudists,  who  were 
adverse  witnesses,  who  refer  to  a  certain  Roman  captain 
named  Turnus,  but  called  in  the  Talmud  Terentius  Ruf  us,  who 
was  left  with  a  guard  in  charge  of  Jerusalem  in  ruins.  The 
Talmud  reads : 

"  On  the  ninth  [of  the  month]  Av,  five  things  happened:  It  was  de- 
creed in  the  wilderness  that  Israel  should  not  enter  into  the  land  [of 

"STTars,  vll,  1,  1,  2.  ^^^chronicles,  162.  >60  Jer.  xxvl,  18;  Mic.  ill,  12. 


540  IIisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

promise].  The  temple  was  destroyed  both  the  first  and  the  second  time. 
The  great  city  Either  was  taken,, and  there  were  in  it  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  Israel ;  and  they  had  a  great  king,  whom  all  Israel  and 
the  greatest  of  the  wise  men  imagined  to  be  King  Messiah.  He  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles,~and  the  Israelites  were  slain  ;  and  there 
was  a  great  affliction  similar  to  the  desolation  of  the  temple.  On  the 
same  day  destined  for  punishment,  the  wicked  Turnus  Rufus  plowed  up 
the  sanctuary  and  the  adjacent  parts,  to  fulfill  that  which  is  said:  Zion  sitall 
be  ploioed  as  a  field."  ^^^ 

Edward  Gibbon,  in  his  celebrated  history  of 

8385.  Witness  '  "^ 

of  Infidels.      the  Roman  Empire,  on  the  downfall  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  its  destruction  by  Titus  and  Hadrian,  says : 

"  A  part  of  the  hill  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Moriah,  and  leveled 
by  human  industry,  was  crowned  with  the  stately  temple  of  the  Jewish 
nation.  After  the  final  destruction  of  the  temple  by  the  arms  of  Titus 
and  Hadrian,  a  plowshare  was  drawn  over  the  consecrated  ground,  as 
the  sign  of  perpetual  interdiction.  Zion  was  deserted ;  and  the  vacant 
space  of  the  lower  city  [Mt.  Moriah]  was  filled  with  the  public  and  pri- 
vate edifices  of  the  iElian  colony,  which  spread^^themselves  over  the 
adjacent  hill  of  Calvary.  The  holy  places  were  polluted  with  monu- 
ments of  idolatry  ;  and,  either  from  design  or  accident,  a  chapel  was 
dedicated  to  Venus  on  the  spot  which  had  been  sanctified  by  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ."  ^^^ 

Yolney,  one  of  the  extremest  of  the  schools  of  disbelief, 
who  traversed  the  lands  of  the  Bible  to  discover,  if  possible, 
evidence  w^ith  which  to  invalidate  the  Scriptures,  thus  testifies 
respecting  the  condition  of  Judaea : 

"  I  have  traversed  this  desolate  country.  ...  I  wandered  over 
the  country ;  I  enumerated  the  kingdoms  of  Damascus  and  Idumsea,  of 
Jerusalem  and  Samaria."  "  Great  God!  from  whence  proceed  such  melan- 
choly revolutions  ?  For  what  cause  is  the  fortune  of  these  countries  so 
strikingly  changed  ?  Why  are  so  many  cities  destroyed  ?  Why  is  not 
that  ancient  population  reproduced  and  perpetuated  ?  .  .  .  Why 
have  these  favors  been  transferred,  as  it  were,  for  so  many  ages,  to  other 
nations  and  different  climes?  .  .  .  Within  two  thousand  and  five 
hundred  years  we  reckon  ten  invasions,  which  have  introduced  in  Syria 
a  succession  of  foreign  nations."  ..."  God  has  doubtless  pronounced 
a  secret  malediction  against  the  land!"  ^^ 

161  Talmud  in  Hilchoth  Taanioth,  c.  v,  on  Mlc.  Ill,  12. 

i62Milman's  ed.  of  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  11,  826:  Porter  and 
Coates's  ed.,  Phlla.,  1845. 

168  See  Keith's  Demonstr.  of  Truth  and  Christianity,  pp.  23,  24,  26,  etc. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       541 

No,  not  a  '•^secret  malediction,"  but  a  most  public  one,  pre- 
announced  in  prophecy,  literally  fulfilled  in  history,  and  the 
whole  land  is  now  a  standing  monument  of  Divine  indignation 
against  an  apostate  and  incorrigible  nation !  It  is  the  terrible 
retribution  of  God  upon  the  ancient  Jews,  brought  upon  them- 
selves by  the  high-handed  wickedness  of  that  nation  which  cul- 
minated in  the  rejection  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ;  a 
punishment  which  he  foretold  would  come  to  pass  in  that 
very  generation !     Jesus  himself  foretold : 

"These  are  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things  which  are  written 
may  be  fulfilled."^®*  For  "Vengeance  is  mine;  I  will  repay,  saith  the 
Loi^  "165  "  YoY  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee,  shall 
perish:  yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly  wasted."  ^^* 

i)  ^^  And  they  shall  fall  hy  the  edge  of  the  sword;  and 
§386.    they  shall  he  led  captive  into  all  the  nations ;  and  Jerusa- 
lem shall  be  trodden  down  hy  the  Gentiles^  until  the  time 
of  the  Gentiles  he  fuliilledr  ^^^ 
This  part  of  Christ's  prediction  contains  three  averments; 
namely,  the  killed  in  battle,  the  prisoners  captured,  and  Jeru- 
salem trodden  down  by  the  Gentiles.     We  shall  see  that  these 
particulars  were  realized  to  the  letter.     Joseph  us*  estimates 
the  number  of  Jews  assembled  at  Jerusalem  in  A.  D.  65,  when 
Cestius  Gallus  attempted  the  first  siege,  to  have  been  three 
millions  gathered  from  all  lands  to  the  festival  of  the  Pass- 
over.    According  to  the  careful  computation  of  Milman,  there 
perished  of  the  Jews — 

In  different  cities  prior  to  the  siege  at  Jesusalem,        -        -  129,500 

And,  besides,  during  the  war  conducted  in  Galilee  and  Judaea,  118,300 
At  Jerusalem,  by  siege,  battles  between  the  Jews,  famines, 

and  pestilence, -        -  1,100,000 

After  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  at  the  several  forts  of  the  frontier,  8,660 

Total, 1,356,460 

Number  of  prisoners  taken  at  the  end  of  the  siege,    97,000 
Prisoners  taken  at  Gischala  and  the  Jordan,         -         4,700 

101,700 

Grand  total, 1,458,160 

'64  Luke  xxi,  22.  »»  Rom.  xll,  19.  J««Isa.  Ix,  12.         '"   Luke  xxl,  24. 

*  Wars,  vl,  9,  3. 
85 


542         HisTOKicAi.  Evidence  of  the  Xew  Testament. 

Besides,  ninety-seven  thousand  captives  were  sold  into  sla- 
very. The  aged  and  infirm  who  survived  the  siege  were  slain. 
Those  whose  age  was  seventeen  and  above  were  put  into  bonds 
and  sent  to  the  mines  of  Egypt ;  while  others  were  sent  away 
to  C£esarea,  to  Berytus  (BejToot),  and  Antioch  in  S}Tia,  and 
to  other  cities,  to  be  entered  in  the  amphitheater,  to  be  killed 
by  each  other  or  by  skilled  gladiators,  or  to  be  thrown  to  the 
wild  beasts,  as  a  holiday  spectacle  "to  entertain  and  amuse  the 
half-civilized  populace  of  that  region.  But  a  special  reserva- 
tion was  made  of  the  tallest  and  handsomest  young  men, 
together  with  those  reg^arded  as  the  chieftains  in  the  rebel- 
lion — such  as  John  of  Gischala,  and  Simon  son  of  Gioras — to 
grace  the  triumph  of  Titus  at  Kome.  The  number  of  these 
prisoners  is  that  reported  by  Josephus  from  only  three  places ; 
but  there  were  others  not  included  here.     He  adds : 

"  They  left  only  the  populace,  and  sold  the  rest  of  the  multitude 
with  their  wives  and  children ;  and  every  one  of  them  at  a  very  low 
price ;  and  that  because  such  as  were  sold  were  very  many,  and  the  buy- 
ers were  very  few."  ^^ 

These  cruelties,  which  are  beyond  compare,  were  then  jus- 
tified by  the  rules  of  ancient  warfare.  Upon  the  other  hand, 
the  two  alternatives  were  conspicuously  placed  before  all 
Israel  while  yet  in  the  wilderness.  Moses  taught  and  edu- 
cated the  people: 

"And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  thou  shalt  hearken  diligently  unto  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  observe  to  do  all  his  commandments  which 
I  command  thee  this  day,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  will  set  thee  on  high 
above  all  nations  of  the  earth."  "  If  thou  wilt  not  observe  to  do  all  the 
words  of  this  law  that  are  written  in  this  book,  that  thou  mayest  fear 
this  glorious  and  fearful  name,  THE  LORD  THY  GOD ;  ...  ye 
shall  be  left  few  in  number,  whereas  ye  were  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
multitude ;  because  thou  wouldst  not  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy 
God."  '"And  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people,  from  one  end 
of  the  earth  to  the  other,  .  .  .  and  among  these  nations  shalt  thou 
find  no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest;  but  the  Lord 
shall  give  thee  a  trembling  heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind : 
and  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee ;  and  thou  shalt  fear  by  day 

>«  Wars,  vi,  8,  2. 


Jewish  Xatiox  ix  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       543 

and  night,  and  shalt  have  none  assurance  of  thy  life ;  in  the  morning 
thou  shalt  say,  Would  God  it  were  even!  and  at  even  thou  shalt  say, 
AVould  God  it  were  morning!  for  fear  of  thine  heart  wherewith  thou 
shalt  fear,  and  for  the  sight  of  thine  eyes  which  thou  shalt  see.  And  the 
Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  Egypt  again  with  ships,  by  the  way  whereof 
I  spake  unto  thee:  Thou  shalt  see  it  no  more  again:  and  there  ye  shall 
be  sold  unto  your  enemies  for  bondmen  and  bondwomen,  and  no  man  shall 
buy  you   [back]." 

"The  generation  to  come  of  your  children  that  shall  rise  up  after 
you,  and  the  stranger  that  shall  come  from  a  far  land,  .  .  .  even  all 
the  nations,  shall  say:  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  done  this  unto  this 
land?  AVhat  meaneth  the  heat  of  this  anger?  Then  shall  men  say  :  Be- 
cause they  have  forsaken  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers."  ^^ 

Since  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  there  have 
been  Jewish  communities,  but  no  Jewish  nation  or  State. 
From  those  days  until  now,  neither  Jerusalem  nor  Judtea  has 
ever  been  in  possession  of  the  Jews.  The  country  has  changed 
ownership  frequently;  for  first  it  was  held  by  the  Eomans 
who  had  conquered  it;  then  by  the  Saracens  who  overran  it; 
afterwards  by  the  Franks ;  then  by  the  Mamelukes ;  and  now 
it  is  governed  by  the  Turks  who  belong  to  the  Mohammedan 
religion.  The  Divine  prediction  had  its  verification  in  that 
generation : 

"  For  in  those  days  there  shall  be  tribulation,  such  as  there  hath  not  been 
from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  which  God  hath  created  until  now,  and 
never  shall  fee."^™  "  There  shall  be  great  distress  upon  the  land,  and  wrath 
unto  this  people  ;  and  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword;  and  they 
shall  be  led  captive  into  all  the  nations  ;  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  time  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  fulfilled."  ^''^ 

If,  now,  it  should  be  asked,  "Why  should  this  indignation 
of  God  be  judicially  visited  upon  this  particular  "generation" 
rather  than  another?   the  reminder  should  be 

.  §  387.  Retribu- 

made  that  this  generation  had  the  advantages     tiononthat 
of  more  light  than  all  the  others;  the  accumu-        eneration. 
lated  teachings  of  all  prior  generations  for  two  thousand  years 
were  theirs,  and  not  one  generation  with  less  instruction  was 
so  incorrigibly  wicked.     The  culmination  of  all  wickedness 

•MDeut.  xxvlli.  1,  58,  62-68;  xxlx,  22,  24,  25.  "OMark  xlll,  19. 

1"  Luke  xxi.  23,  24. 


544  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

occurred  in  this  generation  as  in  no  other,  when  Jesus  "came 
unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not,"  ^^  but  when 
"  this  generation "  of  both  nation  and  rulers  perpetrated  the 
unparalleled  crime  against  the  life  of  the  Christ  of  God  whom 
they  crucihed  as  the  vilest  criminal.  For  let  it  not  be  forgot- 
ten that,  after  all  the  miracles  which  attested  his  Divine  Son- 
ship,  he  at  last  wrought  the  stupendous  miracle  in  their  pres- 
ence in  raising  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  their  only  response 
was  that  they  sought  to  kill  both  Jesus  and  Lazarus ;  for  they 
said :  "  If  we  let  him  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him,  and 
the  Romans  will  come  and  take  away  our  place  and  na- 
tion." ^^  It  was  "  this  generation  "  of  both  rulers  and  people 
who  openly  committed  the  deathless  infamy  of  preferring 
the  release  of  Barabbas,  who  was  a  murderer,  that  the  Son  of 
God  should  be  tortured  by  his  death  on  the  cross!  Falsely 
professing  loyalty  to  the  Roman  Emperor,  with  one  voice 
they  cried  out  to  Pilate:  "We  have  no  king  but  Caesar;  if 
thou  release  this  man,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend ;  every  one 
that  maketh  himself  a  king  speaketh  against  Caesar!" 
Against  Pilate's  repeated  protest,  ^'■All  the  people  answered : 
His  hlood  he  upon  us,  and  on  our  children. ^^^'^^  Their  fearful 
imprecation  was  granted.  They  preferred  Caesar's  rule  to 
that  of  Christ,  and  to  Caesar's  rule  they  were  relegated.  Is 
not  the  horrid  imprecation  of  the  Jews  before  Pilate  the 
sufficient  and  supreme  answer  to  the  question  why  God's  retri- 
bution fell  upon  that  particular  generation?  He  who  is  "King 
of  the  nations""^  "shall  judge  among  the  nations." ^^^  The 
abrupt  but  complete  turning  point  between  the  dispensation 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  had  now  come.  The  siege  of 
Jerusalem  in  its  succession  of  events  is  significant  of  "  God  in 
History.''''  The  siege  began  at  the  time  of  the  Passover,  the 
anniversary  of  the  crucifixion  of  Christ;  at  the  time  when  the 
predicted  "sacrifice  and  oblation  should  cease,"  which  was  the 

"2  John  1,  U.  I"  76.  xl,  48;   xll,  10,  11. 

m  John  xlx,  12;   Matt,  xxvll,  25.  "SJer.  x,  7.       "»  Psa.  11,  4,  6;  vU,  8;  Ix,  8. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       545 

abolishment  of  the  Jews'  whole  sacriticial  system;  the  oc- 
casion in  which  their  ancient  temple  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  the  utter  extinction  of  their  revered  center  of  wor- 
ship; on  a  Saturday,  the  abolition  of  the  Jewish  Sabhath; 
the  reduction  and  destruction  of  "  the  Holy  City  "  Jerusalem ; 
and,  withal,  the  expatriation  of  the  Jewish  people  from  their 
native  Palestine;  that  which  finally  terminated  the  existence 
of  their  ancient  theocracy !  It  stands  forever  as  the  answer 
to  all  questions,  and  for  the  understanding  of  all  the  genera- 
tions to  come,  that  that  generation  of  the  Jews  in  which  Jesus 
Christ  Imed  and  died,  in  their  frenzied  outcry  for  the  cruci- 
fixion of  the  '"''Lord  of  Glory''''  invoked  upon  themselves  the  hor- 
rible malediction:  ^^ His  hlood  he  on  us,  and  on  our  children r'' 
The  revenge  of  History  was  but  too  fully  accomplished.  It 
was  the  vindication  of  God.  And  the  Gentile  Avorld  ever 
since  has  read,  with  wonder  and  profound  sympathy,  the  story 
of  these  calamities  endured,  which  ended  in  the  blotting  out 
from  the  great  family  of  nations,  and  the  removal  from  the 
geography  of  the  world,  the  nationality  and  commonwealth 
of  the  ancient  Jews  of  Palestine.  From  that  day  forth,  His- 
tory was  changed  in  its  course. 

It  is  indeed  a  sad  but  historical  record  of  the  Divine 
procedure,  but  one  which  had  been  tearfully  but  faithfully 
portrayed  by  Christ  himself.  It  was  also  long  preceded  by 
the  longsuffering  and  "patience  of  Christ,"  which  should  not 
be  lost  sight  of  when  taking  an  account  of  the  memorabilia 
related  to  his  sufferings. 
These  are : 

1.  The  Sympathy  of  Jesus  t  "And  when  he  drew  nigh  he  saw  the  city, 

and  wept  over  it." 

2.  The  Visitation  op  God  :  **  These  are  the  days  of  vengeance  .  .  .  and 

wrath  unto  this  people." 

3.  By  Methods  op  War:  "Jerusalem  compassed  by  armies   .  .  .   know 

her  desolation  is  at  hand." 

4.  Excruciating  Sufferings:  "Hath  not  been  the  like  from  creation, 

and  never  shall  be." 


546         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

5.  The  Destruction  op  the  Temple:  "Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto 

you  desolate." 

6.  The  Escape  of  the  Christians:  "And    not   a  hair  of  your   heads 

shall  perish." 

7.  The  Overthrow  of  the  City:  "Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of 

the  Gentiles." 

8.  The  Condition  op  Survivors:  "And  they  shall  be  led  captive  into  all 

the  nations." 

9.  The  Perversity  op  the  Jews:  "Because  thou  knowest  not  the  days 

of  thy  visitation." 
10.  The  Christians  Emancipated:  "Lift  up  your  head,   because   your 
redemption  draweth  nigh." 

The  Roman  triumph  is  the  sequel  of  this  conquest,  involv- 
ing further  humiliating  sufferings  on  the  part  of  the  Jews. 
c^r^r.  ,„r-   rr,  •     Thc  Scnatc  at  Rome  ordered  a  triumph  to  be 

8  388.  The  Tri-  ^ 

umph  and  its  awarded  in  honor  of  each,  Yespasian  and  his  son 
Titus.  They  themselves,  however,  chose  that 
there  should  be  but  one  occasion,  in  which  they  should  share 
jointly.  The  triumph  was  celebrated  in  the  next  year,  A.  D. 
71-  Milman  thus  describes  the  expenditure  and  splendor  of 
the  pageantry : 

"  Nothing  could  equal  the  splendor  of  the  triumph  which  Vespasian 
shared  with  his  son  Titus  for  their  common  victories.  Besides  the  usual 
display  of  treasures,  gold,  silver,  jewels,  purple  vests,  the  rarest  wild 
beasts  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  there  were  extraoi'dinary  pa- 
geants, three  or  four  stories  high,  representing  to  the  admiration  and 
delight  of  those  civilized  savages,  all  the  horrors  and  miseries  of  war, — 
beautiful  countries  laid  waste;  armies  slain,  routed,  led  captive;  cities 
breached  by  military  engines,  stormed,  destroyed  by  fire  and  sword  ; 
women  wailing  ;  houses  overturned  ;  temples  burning,  and  rivers  of  fire 
flowing  through  regions  no  longer  cultivated  or  peopled,  but  blazing 
away  into  the  long  and  dreary  distance.  Among  tlie  spoils,  the  golden 
table,  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  and  the  Book  of  the  Law  from 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  were  conspicuous."  "'' 

The  triumphal  procession  was  most  impressive  in  its  ap- 
pointments. Vespasian  and  Titus  appeared  as  conquerors. 
Each  clad  in  the  ancient  purple,  each  crowned  with  laurel, 
each  riding  in  his  own  chariot,  accompanied  by  Domitian 
mounted  upon  his  blooded  steed,  moved  slowly  along  the  Sacred 

1"  Hist,  of  Jews,  11,  889. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       547 

"Way,  amidst  the  joyful  acclamations  of  the  Roman  people. 
Before  them  had  already  passed  the  victorious  army;  the  sol- 
diers without  their  arms,  clad  in  festive  silk,  followed  by- 
seven  hundred  selected  and  reserved  captives  of  the  war.  In 
accordance  with  the  ancient  custom,  the  triumphal  procession 
paused  and  waited  at  the  temple  Jupiter  Capitolanus,  which 
marked  the  end  of  the  victorious  march,  to  hear  announced  the 
death  of  the  general  of  the  conquered  army.  This  distinction 
was  awarded  to  Simon,  son  of  Gioras,  who  commanded  the  Jews 
and  Idumaeans  on  Mount  Zion  in  the  great  revolt,  who,  with  a 
rope  about  his  neck,  was  dragged  to  the  place  of  his  execu- 
tion, whipped  as  he  went  along  the  highway  in  public  expos- 
ure. Upon  reaching  the  famous  Tarpeian  rock,  he  was  hurled 
therefrom  headlong  to  his  death,  and  the  fact  was  reported 
and  announced  to  the  conquering  Romans.  John  of  Gischala 
was  doomed  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  And  for  the  occasion 
of  triumph  coins  were  struck  bearing  the  legend:  '■'•Judoea 
capta,  Judcea  conquered^'' ^''^ 

In  addition  to  all  this,  there  was  erected  in  Rome  a  monu- 
mental arch  of  Pentelic  marble,  constructed  in  most  beautiful 
design,  known  now  as  the  Arch  of  Titus.  Of  all  the  antiqui- 
ties preserved  in  the  Old  World  capital,  this  arch  is  unrivaled 
in  Christian  interest.  After  the  death  of  Titus  in  A.  D.  81, 
his  brother  Domitian,  who  succeeded  him  to  the  imperial 
throne,  caused  this  monument  of  triumph  to  be  erected  to 
commemorate  his  victory  over  the  Jews  and  the  destruction  of 
their  State.  It  yet  stands  on  the  old  street  known  as  Summa 
Sacra  Via,  or  the  highest  part  of  the  Sacred  Way,  between 
the  Forum  and  the  Coliseum.  It  is  that  street  which  extends 
from  the  southern  gate  of  Rome  to  the  Capitol,  over  which  the 
Roman  conquerors  were  wont  to  move  in  triumphal  proces- 
sions, the  royal  captives  being  chained  to  the  triumphal 
chariots,  drawn  by  four  horses,  accompanied  by  the  spoils  of 

i'8  Judcea  capta.,  Judcea  devicta. 


548         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

war  as  trophies.     A  translation  of  the  inscription  on  the  Arch 
of  Titus  reads  thus : 

the  senate 

and  people  of  rome 

to  the  deified  titus  vespanianus  augustus 

the  son  of 

the  deified  vespanianus,* 

This  Arch  of  Triumph  still  survives  the  wastes  and  dan- 
gers of  time,  and  its  inscription  tells  its  own  story.  Its 
moldering  entablature  in  part  represents  the  procession  tri- 
umphal, and  the  sacred  furniture  taken  from  the  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem, as  borne  along  over  the  pavement  with  measured  step, 
displaying  the  spoils  of  war  to  the  Roman  peoples ;  the  images 
of  their  gods  preceding ;  the  shew-bread,  the  silver  trumpets 
which  announced  the  year  of  jubilee,  the  seven-branched  can- 
dlesticks of  massive  gold,  the  vessels  of  incense,  and  the  roll  of 
the  Law.  The  only  representation  of  those  sacred  vessels  now 
existing,  aside  from  the  written  description  by  Moses,  is  that 
sculptured  in  relief  in  entablature  placed  on  the  inside  of  this 
monumental  arch.  The  Book  of  the  Law  and  the  veils  of  the 
Holy  Place  do  not  appear  on  the  arch,  but  were  deposited  in 
the  palace  of  the  emperor ;  all  the  other  articles  were  placed 
in  the  Temple  of  Peace,  which  was  burned  in  the  time  of 
Commodus,  who  was  emperor  A.  D.  180-192. 

Of  the  Jews'  survival  and  pertinacity  of  ex- 

§389.    Sur-     .  ^  "^ 

vivai  of      istence,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  makes  the  following 

the  Jews.  •    ^    j  ^ 

pointed  remarks : 

"  Thus,  therefore,  must  one  of  the  best  of  the  Roman  emperors  ex- 
ecute the  long  threatened  judgment  of  God,  and  the  most  learned  Jew 
of  his  time  describe  it,  and  thereby,  without  willing  or  knowing  it, 
[both]  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  and  the  Divinity  of  the 
mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  rejection  of  whom  brought  all  this  and  the 
subsequent  misfortunes  upon  the  apostate  race."  ^™   "  But  the  Jews  still 


*  Senatvs  popvlvovb.  Romanvs.  Divo.  Tito.  Divi.  Vespasiani.  F.  Ves- 
pasiano.  avqvsto. 

"*Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1,  399. 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament.       549 

had  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  and  sacred  traditions,  to  which  they  cling 
to  this  day  with  indestructible  tenacity,  and  with  the  hope  of  a  great 
future.  Scattered  over  the  earth,  at  home  everywhere  and  nowhere ;  re- 
fusing to  mingle  their  blood  with  any  other  race;  dwelling  in  distant 
communities  ;  marked  as  a  peculiar  people  in  every  feature  of  the  coun- 
tenance, in  every  rite  of  their  religion  ;  patient,  sober,  and  industrious  ; 
successful  in  every  enterprise ;  prosperous  in  spite  of  oppression ;  ridi- 
culed, and  yet  feared  ;  robbed,  yet  wealthy  ;  massacred,  yet  springing 
up  again, — they  have  outlived  the  persecution  of  the  centuries,  and  are 
likely  to  live  till  the  end  of  time,  the  object  of  mingled  contempt, 
admiration,  and  the  wonder  of  the  world."  ^^^ 

THE  REVIEW. 

The  evidential  value  of  our  Lord's  prophecy  uttered  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives  can  not  be  overestimated.     The  prediction  is 
so  circumstantially  stated,  and  the  fulfillment 
was  in  such  exact  aOTeement  with  the  prediction,  8  ^qo.  The  Pre- 

°  ^  '  diction. 

that  some  have  quite  insisted  that  the  Evangel- 
ists did  not  record  these  successive  events  while  they  yet  per- 
tained to  the  future,  but  afterward,  when  they  had  become 
identified  with  the  past ;  not  prophecy,  but  history.  Of  course, 
no  proof  is  offered,  as  it  is  mere  conjecture.  But  it  concedes 
and  certifies  the  complete  accordancy  between  the  foretelling 
and  the  fulfilling  of  the  prediction.  Obviously,  on  the  ground 
assumed,  it  would  be  impossible  to  verify  any  prophecy  what- 
ever, since  the  more  circumstantially  accordant  the  prophecy 
and  the  history,  the  more  evident  would  be  the  attempted 
fraud !  In  other  words,  only  such  predictions  as  do  not  corre- 
spond ^\^th  the  realization  could  be  entitled  to  consideration  as 
true!  Such  assumptions  would  destroy  all  canon  of  belief, 
from  sheer  absurdities. 

But  the  internal  evidence  of  the  case  contravenes  and  de- 
stroys any  such  objections  to  the  record  of  the  Evangelists. 
For  the  prediction  publishes  certain  signs  of  warning  which 
are  to  be  observed  by  the  Christians  of  Judaea,  with  directions 
when  and  how  to  escape  the  impending  horrors  of  the  siege; 
viz,  "When  ye  see  Jerusalem  compassed  by  armies,  then  know 

180  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  i,  402. 


550         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

that  her  desolation  is  at  hand.  Then  let  them  that  are  in 
Judaea  flee  to  the  mountains,  and  let  them  that  are  in  the  midst 
of  her  depart  out,"  etc.  Now  if  the  prediction  be  conceived 
as  an  imposture,  what  possible  design  could  the  writer  have 
entertained  to  insert  at  all  the  admonition  given,  and  the 
direction  respecting  the  time  and  manner  of  escape,  after  the 
event  had  already  passed?  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
Christians,  and  they  alone,  were  in  possession  of  the  admoni- 
tion, and  conformed  their  conduct  to  the  directions,  then  it 
must  have  been  exactly  because  they  possessed  the  admonition 
and  prediction  before  the  occurrence  of  the  event.  It  was 
said :  "  Not  a  hair  of  your  head  shall  perish."  Not  a  single 
Christian  suffered  from  the  siege.  And  to  this  fact  all  the 
historical  circumstances  of  the  case  correspond  with  extraor- 
dinary exactness.  Upon  every  reasonable  ground,  therefore, 
the  supposition  which  attempts  to  deny  the  reality  of  Christ's 
prediction,  as  such,  is  inadmissible. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  involving  the  destruction  of 
the  theocracy,  was  that  which  was  to  be  accomplished  in  that 
§391  The  generation.  Both  were  to  fall  by  the  judicial 
Realization,  judgment  of  God,  whose  occasion  is  designated  as 
"the  day  of  vengeance."  And  in  that  character  it  came  to 
pass.  Armies  encompassed  the  city  as  foretold;  banks  and 
walls  were  constructed  about  Jerusalem,  to  confine  the  Jews 
within  the  siege ;  people  fell  by  the  edge  of  the  sword  by  the 
ten  thousand ;  the  temple  where  the  nation  for  centuries  had 
gathered  to  observe  all  the  rites  of  worship  was  reduced  to 
ashes;  the  foundations  thereof  were  so  uptorn  that  not  one 
stone  was  left  upon  another;  the  surviving  people  became  cap- 
tives in  war,  but  slaves  in  peace;  and  the  Holy  City,  the  joy 
of  many  generations,  became  literally  trodden  down  by  the 
Gentiles !  What  calamities  were  involved  in  this  stupendous 
fulfillment  of  prophecy !  Can  conviction  rest  satisfied  in  the 
belief  that  all  this  cumulative  suffering,  and  the  final  extinction 
of  this  great  and  ancient  nation,  were  but  a  commonplace  oc- 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times  of  the  New  Testament,       551 

currence  in  history,  having  no  significant  relation  to  the  provi- 
dence and  government  of  God  ?  The  complete  and  permanent 
obliteration  of  a  whole  nation  from  the  face  of  the  world  — 
and  that  by  far  the  most  religiously-instructed  people  of  their 
time,  who  had  for  centuries  past  regarded  themselves  as  God's 
peculiar  people — is  an  effect  which  all  just  reasoning  demands 
that  the  cause  and  occasion  should  be  explained.  Those  who 
reject  this  explanation  should  furnish  a  better  one.  For  the 
whole  course  of  history  was  changed  by  the  results  of  that 
war. 

Set  aside,  now,  the  several  prophecies  related  to  this  oc- 
casion, who  will  furnish  the  sufficient  explanation  ?  Upon  the 
other  hand,  if  we  accept  the  situation  as  we  find  it,  we  clearly 
have  not  far  to  go  for  the  satisfactory  answer.  It  is  obvious 
that  those  most  active  in  this  war,  as  Titus,  most  familiar  with 
its  pivotal  occurrences,  are  most  clear  in  the  discernment  which 
attributes  the  whole  issue  to  the  retribution  of  God  visited 
upon  that  apostate  generation.  The  Jewish  mind,  the  heathen 
mind,  and  the  Christian  mind  have  reached  the  same  consen- 
sus. The  captive  Josephus,  a  captive  in  chains ;  the  conquering 
general,  Titus,  in  command  of  the  Roman  army ;  the  Roman 
Julianus,  an  eyewitness  and  historian  of  the  siege ;  the  Chris- 
tian writer,  Eusebius,  of  a  succeeding  generation,  in  his  Chrmi- 
icles  /  and  in  modern  times,  the  skeptical  Gibbon  in  England, 
writing  on  the  Roman  Empire;  and  the  Atheist  Yolney  trav- 
ersing Palestine  in  researches  for  materials  to  refute  the 
Scriptures,  all  concur  in  seeing  the  movement  of  God's  hand 
visible  behind  the  dark  clouds  whose  vengeful  bolt  in  one  day 
blotted  a  nation  from  the  geography  of  the  earth. 

Much  was  meant  in  behalf  of  the  Church  which  the  Savior 
was  founding,  when  he  said:  "When  these  things     ^^^^  ^^^ 
begin  to  come  to  pass,  look  up  and  lift  up  your  Advantages, 
heads,  because  your  redemption  draweth  nigh." 

Of  course,  the  apostles  of  Jesus  were  Jewish  Christians. 
They  had  been  regularly  admitted  to  the  Church  of  the  Jews 


552         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

at  a  time  when  all  the  ancient  rites  of  that  Church  were  yet 
binding.  No  rule  had  been  published,  either  by  the  authority 
of  Christ  or  by  the  Jewish  Church,  prohibiting  Christians  from 
worshiping  in  the  temple.  Upon  the  other  hand,  these  rites 
and  services  were  powerfully  enforced  upon  all  Jews  by  re- 
ligious instinct,  by  education,  and  by  legal  requirement. 
Hence  Christ's  disciples  continued  their  services  at  the  temple 
long  after  the  death  of  Jesus.  There  was  nothing  incompatible 
with  duty,  or  inconsistent  in  conduct,  involved  in  the  disciples' 
observing  such  service.  For  while  the  death  of  Christ  was 
itself  sacrificial  as  the  Antitype  of  the  whole  sacrificial  system, 
and  virtually  abolished  the  necessity  of  subsequent  sacrificing 
at  the  temple,  yet  as  no  authoritative  utterance  had  been  made, 
by  Christ  or  the  Christian  or  Jewish  Church,  prohibitive  of 
such  observances  to  the  Jewish  Christians,  they  naturally  con- 
tinued the  old  ritual.  The  gospel  was  "  to  the  Jew  first,"  and 
associations  in  the  same  Jewish  solemnities  were  most  likely 
to  win  the  Jews  to  the  new  faith  of  which  the  old  observances 
were  so  illustrative.  The  Jewish  ritual  was  allowable,  but  it 
was  not  obligatory.  But  in  the  ordering  of  God  it  was  reserved 
for  the  seventeenth  of  July,  A.  D.  70,  to  bring  in  the  one  de- 
cisive measure,  when,  accordant  with  the  prophecy  of  Daniel, 
all  "sacrifice  and  oblation  should  cease;"  and  on  the  tenth  of 
August  the  temple  was  burned,*  and  the  theocracy  was  brought 
to  an  end.  The  point  of  complete  and  final  separation  between 
the  Jews  and  Christians  was  now  definitely  reached.  The 
Gentiles  were  not  to  be  enslaved  by  the  effete  forms  of  Judaism, 
nor  to  be  degraded  in  their  freedom  of  spirit.  There  existed 
now  no  longer  a  common  bond  of  unity  between  the  old  and 
the  new  Church ;  but  in  a  free  spirit  all  Christians  could  "  lift 
up  their  heads,  because  the  day  of  their  redemption"  had 
come. 


*  Alex.  Thomson  says  that  Jerusalem  Itself  was  captured  and  sacked  on  Sep- 
tember 8,  A.  D.  69,  on  the  Sabbath  (see  Sueton.,  p.  417,  note). 


Jewish  Nation  in  Times]of  the  New  Testament.       553 

On  this  point  Dr.  Schaff  remarks  with  characteristic  force 

and  clearness  : 

"  The  awful  catastrophe  of. the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  theocracy 
must  have  produced  the  profoundest  sensation  among  the  Christians,  of 
which  we  now,  in  the  absence  of  ail  particular  information  respecting  it, 
can  hardly  form  a  true  conception.  It  was  the  greatest  calamity  of 
Judaism,  and  a  great  benefit  to  Christianity  ;  a  refutation  of  the  one,  a 
vindication  and  an  emancipation  of  the  other.  It  not  only  gave  a  mighty 
impulse  to  [the]  faith,  but  at  the  same  time  formed  a  proper  epoch  in 
the  histoi-y  of  the  relation  between  the  two  religious  bodies.  It  separated 
them  forever.  .  .  .  God  himself  destroyed  the  house  in  which  he  had 
thus  far  dwelt ;  injwhich  Jesus  had  taught ;  in  which  the  apostles  had 
prayed.  He  rejected  his  peculiar  people /or  their  obstinate  rejection  of  the 
Messiah;  he  demolished  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Mosaic  theocracy,  whose 
system  of  worship  was  in  its  very  nature  associated  with  the  temple. 
.  .  .  Hencefoi'th  the  heathen  could  no  longer  look  upon  Christianity 
as  a  mere  sect  of  Judaism,  but  must  regard  and  treat  it  as  a  new,  peculiar 
religion  [of  itself].  The  desti'uction  of  Jerusalem,  therefore,  marks  that 
momentous  crisis  at  which  the  Christian  Church,  as  a  w.hole,  burst  for- 
ever from  the  chrysalis  of  Judaic  a,  awoke  to  a  sense  of  its  own  maturity, 
and,  in  government  and  worship,  at  once  took  its  independent  stand 
before  the  world."  "  This  breaking  away  from  the  hardened  Judaism 
and  its  religious  forms  involved  no  departure  from  the  spirit  of  the  Old 
Testament  revelation."  ^^^ 

"The  ruin  of  Jerusalem  was  for  Christianity  an  unequal 
fortune."  ^^  It  was  a  change  from  the  old  Covenant  to  the 
New.  It  involved  not  the  moral,  but  the  whole  ceremonial 
law.  The  change  embraced  services  and  people,  conditions 
and  admissions,  Jews  and  Gentiles.  The  restriction  of  religion 
to  one  nation  exclusively  now  completely  ceased ;  the  extension 
of  privileges  equally  and  universally  to  all  nations  was  now 
directly  asserted.  The  result  inured  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  Christianity. 

Bishop  Westcott  remarks : 

"The  Christians  of  Jerusalem  had  clung  to  their  ancient  law  till 
their  national  hopes  seemed  crushed  forever  by  the  building  of  ^lia,  and 
the  establishment  of  a  Gentile  Church  within  the  Holy  City.  At  length 
men  saw  that  they  were  already  in  the  new  age — the  world  to  come ; 
they  saw  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  distinguished  from  the  typical  king- 
dom of  Israel,  was  now  set  up ;  and  it  seemed  that  the  Gospel  of  St.  Paul 

181  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1, 403,  404.  isa  R6nan. 


554         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

w  as  to  be  the  common  law  of  its  citizens.  Under  the  pressure  of  these 
circumstances  the  Judaizing  party  naturally  made  a  last  effort  to  regain 
their  original  power.  It  was  only  possible  to  maintain  what  had  ceased 
to  be  national  by  asserting  that  it  was  universal.  The  discussions  of  the 
first  age  were  thus  reproduced  in  form,  but  they  had  a  wider  bearing. 
The  struggle  was  not  for  independence,  but  for  dominion.  The  Gentile 
Christians  no  longer  claimed  tolerance,  but  supremacy."  ^^ 

The  same  writer  sets  forth  the  removal  of  the  distinctions 
between  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  in  the  following  particulars  : 

a.  "  The  admission  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  Christian  Churoh.      (Acts 
X,  xi.) 

b.  The  freedom  of  the  Gentile  converts  from   the  Ceremonial  law. 
(Acts  XV.) 

c.  The  indifference  of  the  Ceremonial  law  for  Jewish  converts.  (Gal. 
ii,  14-16.) 

d.  The  incompatibility  of  Judaism  and  Christianity." 

188  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  67,  68. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

PAUL'S  MISSIONAEY  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  GENTILE 

WORLD. 

I.  Thk  Historical  Geography  op  the  Book  op  Acts. 
II.  Paul's  Journey  to  the  Gentile  Countries. 

1.  The  Apostle  Visits  Asiatic  Cities. 

a)  Damascus  (in  Syria). 

/3)  Ephesus  (in  Asia  Minor). 

2.  The  Apostle  Visits  European  Cities. 

a)  Philippi  (in  Macedonia). 
^)  Thessalonica  (in  Macedonia). 
7)  Athens  (in  Achaia). 
III.  Paul's  Journey  by  Sea  to  Italy. 

o)  The  Apostle's  Voyage  (Mediterranean  Sea). 
/3)  His  Shipwreck  at  Melita  (Malta). 
7)  Puteoli,  the  Italian  Harbor  (Pozzuoli). 
IV.  Paul's  Residence  at  Rome. 

a)  In  Bonds  in  his  "  own  hired  house." 
/8)  Immured  in  the  Mamertine  Prison. 
7)  His  Death  at  the  Three  Fountains. 
555 


Maj)  1. 


Chapter  XYIII. 

PAUL'S  MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  GENTILE 

WORLD. 

§  303.  Paul's  Missionary  Jovirneys  to  the  Gentile  World. 

It  is  said  that  twelve  fishermen  founded  Christianity.  I  will  show  you 
that  one  Frenchman  can  overthrow  it.  — Voltaire. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Philosophy  will  triumph, 
and  Christianity  will  fade  away. — Hume. 

It  is  the  Bible,  the  Bible  itself,  which  combats  and  triumphs  most  effica- 
ciously in  the  war  between  incredulity  and  belief. — Guizot. 

In  the  Parables  of  the  Mustard-seed  and  the  Leaven,  Jesus  depicted  the 
small  beginnings  and  the  future  extent  and  power  of  the  Christian 
religion.  What  a  gaze  was  that  which  thus  looked  far  down  the 
stream  of  time  !  The  unaided  faculties  of  no  man  in  the  situation 
of  Jesus  could  have  thus  forecast  the  drama  of  history. — Fishbr. 

Christ  wrought  through  me,  for  the  obedience  of  the  Gentiles,  by  word 
and  deed,  in  the  power  of  signs  and  wonders,  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  so  that  from  Jerusalem,  and  round  about  even  unto 
Illyricum,  I  have  fully  preached  the  gospel  of  Christ.  So  as  much 
as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  also  that  are  at 
Kome. — Paul. 

Now  God  be  praised,  that,  to  believing  souls. 

Gives  light  in  darkness,  comfort  in  despair. — Shakespeare. 

ARGUMENT. 

The  geography  of  the  historical  part  of  the  New  Testament  is  full  of 
interest  to  the  investigator,  by  reason  of  the  lands  and  seas  trav- 
ersed, the  incidents  occurring  on  the  way  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  old  civilizations,  devoted  to  their  idolatries,  re- 
ceived the  new  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
complies  with  the  requirement  of  Jesus  at  his  conversion :  "  Depart, 
for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles."  He  first  visits 
the  cities  in  Asia:  Damascus  in  Syria,  Jerusalem  in  Judaea,  Ephe- 
sus  in  Asia  Minor ;  then  he  introduces  Christianity  into  Eastern 
Europe,  establishing  mission  stations  along  the  coast-line ;  at 
Philippi  and  Thessalonica,  in  Macedonia;  and  at  Athens  and 
Corinth,  in  Greece. 
36  557 


558         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

A  prisoner,  on  his  "  appeal  unto  Caesar,"  he  is  conveyed  from 
Csesarea-on-the-Sea  to  Rome  under  the  special  care  of  "a  centurion 
named  Julius  of  the  Augustan  band,"  a  route  which  comparatively 
recently  has  been  surveyed,  and  the  vphole  journey  in  detail  has 
been  thoroughly  established.  The  several  islands,  where  the  ship 
which  carried  the  apostle  touched  in  its  course,  have  been  fully 
identified  ;  the  terrific  storms  encountered  for  "  fourteen  days  and 
nights  "  still  characterize  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  the  shipwreck  on 
the  island  Melita  (Malta),  with  the  interesting  incidents  of  their 
stay  during  winter ;  Puteoli,  the  southern  port  of  Italy,  where  he 
landed  ;  and  thence  on  foot  over  the  Appian  Way  to  Rome,— are  now 
all  known  to  be  historical.  Entering  the  Capital  a  prisoner,  the 
treatment  the  apostle  received  there,  where  he  spent  "  two  whole 
years  in  his  own  hired  house,  and  received  all  that  came  unto  him, 
preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things  which 
concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbid- 
ding him,"  and  his  subsequent  trial  and  death,  are  all  matters  of 
note  in  this  chapter. 

1.  The  Historical  Geography  of  the  Book  of  Acts. 

2.  Paul's  Visits  to  the  Various  Gentile  Countries. 

3.  The  Apostle's  Journey  by  Sea  and  Land  to  the  Capital. 

4.  The  Occun'ences,  and  Close  of  Paul's  life  at  Rome. 

The  following  admirably  condensed  presenta- 

§394.   The         .  o  ./  r 

Historical     tion  of  the  Geography  of  the  New  Testament 
eograp  y.    jjjg^-Qpy^  jg  taken  from  the  Bamjpton  Lectures  of 
the  distinguished   Professor   George   Kawlinson,^    of  Exeter 
College,  England: 

"Among  minute  points  of  accordance,  maybe  especially  noticed  the 
Geographical  accuracy  [of  Luke]. 

"  a)  Compare  the  Divisions  of  Asia  Minor  mentioned  in  Acts  with 
those  of  Pliny;  Phrygia,  Galatia,  Lycaonia,  Cilicia,  Pamphylia,  Pisidia, 
Asia,  Mysia,  Bithynia,  are  all  recognized  as  existing  provinces  by  the 
Roman  Geographer,  writing  probably  within  a  few  years  of  Luke.^ 

"  P)  The  Divisions  of  European  Greece  into  two  provinces,  Macedonia 
and  Achaia,^  accords  exactly  with  the  ari'angement  of  Augustus  noticed 
in  Strabo*  [the  famous  ancient  geographer]. 

"7)  The  various  Tracts  in  or  about  Palestine  belong  to  the  geograj)hy 
of  that  time,  and  of  no  other.  Judsea,  Samaria,  Galilee,  Trichonitis,  Itursea, 
Abilene,  and  Decapolis  are  recognized  as  geographically  distinct  at  this 
period  by  Jewish  and  classic  writers.  ^ 

"  5)  T}ie  Routes  mentioned   are  such   as  were  in  use  at  that  time. 

1  Bamp.  Lecls,  1859,  Amer.  ed.,  pp.  402,  40;J. 

2  Pliny,  Hixtoria  JValuralis,  v,  27.  ^Acts  xlx,  21.  *  Strabo,  xvil,  ad.  fln. 
6  Pliny,  //.  N.  \,U,  18,  23;  Strab.  xvl,  2, 10,  31;  Joseph.  Ant.  xix,  5,  1,  etc. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  "World.    559 

'The  ship  of  Alexandria'  which  conveyed  St.  Paul  to  Rome,  lands  him 
at  Puteoli  [modern  Pozzuoli],  follows  the  ordinary  course  of  the  Alexan- 
drian corn-ships,  as  mentioned  by  Strabo,^  Philo,^  and  Seneca  ;**  and 
touches  at  the  customary  harbors. ^  Paul's  journey  from  Troas  by  Neapolis 
to  Philippi,  presents  an  exact  parallel  to  that  of  Ignatius  sixty  years 
later,  i"  His  passage  through  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia  on  the  road 
from  Philippi  to  Thessalonica  [modern  Salonica],  is  in  accordance  with 
the  Itinerary  of  Antonine,"  which  places  those  towns  on  the  route  be- 
tween the  two  cities. 

e)  '*  The  mention  of  Philippi  as  '  the  first  city  of  Macedodia '  ^^  to  one 
approaching  from  the  east,  is  entirely  correct,  since  there  was  no  other 
between  it  and  Neapolis.  The  statement  that  it  was  'a  colony'  is  also 
true."  13 

g  395.  The  Cities  of  Asia. 

a)  Damascus  (Syria). 

"Neither  went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  them  which  were  apostles  before 
me ;  but  I  went  away  into  Arabia ;  and  again  I  returned  unto  Da- 
mascus."" "  In  Damascus  the  governor  under  Aretas  the  king  guarded 
the  city  of  the  Damascenes  in  order  to  take  me ;  and  through  a  window 
I  was  let  down  in  a  basket  by  the  wall,  and  escaped  his  hands."  ^^ 

This  Aretas  was  king  of  Arabia,  whose  capital  was  Petra. 
Herod  Antipas  married  his  daughter ;  then  repudiated  her, 
and  married  Herodias,  the  wife  of  Herod  Philip  [I]  while  her 
husband  was  still  living,  for  which  John  Baptist  sternly  re- 
proved Antipas,  while  Aretas  made  war  upon  him  and  de- 
stroyed Herod's  army.  Thereupon  Herod  appealed  to  Emperor 
Tiberius  for  counsel  and  help ;  and  Tiberius  ordered  Vitellius, 
then  president  of  Syria,  to  capture  Aretas  dead  or  alive,  and 
send  him  to  Rome  in  chains,  or  send  him  his  head.^^  But  before 
this  order  could  be  executed,  Tiberus  died,  on  March  12th, 
A.  D.  37,  and  the  news  of  his  death  reached  Yitellius  at  Jerusa- 
lem while  on  the  march  with  his  army  to  take  Aretas.  Vitel- 
lius now  regarded  the  order  as  nugatory,  and  its  requirement 
as  extinguished ;  whereupon  he  returned  to  Antioch  in  Syria. 
Yitellius  is  said  to  have  entertained  an  old  grudge  against 

«^n<.  XTlil,  6,  3.         T  In  Flacc.  96S,  969.         «Epis.  77.       [»  Suetonius,  Ti^ms,  c.  5. 
^<^Martyr.  Ignai.  c.  5.  "  lb.  c.  2.  i^Acts  xvi,  12. 

13  Dion  Casslus,  Hist,  of  Rome,  11,  4;  Pliny's  H.  N.  Iv,  11;  Sirabo,  vil,  41. 
n  Gal.  1, 17.  15  Bee  Alford's  Comm.  on  2  Cor.  xi,  32,33;  comp.  Acts  Ix,  22-2.5. 

16  Josephus,  Ant.  xviii,  5,  1-3. 


560  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Herod  Antipas.^'    Upon  the  death  of  Tiberius,  Caius  Caligula 
immediately  succeeded  to  the  imperial  throne  at  Kome. 

Some  considerable  embarrassment  has  been  experienced  by 
some  writers  in  placing  this  King  Aretas  in  power  over  Da- 
mascus just  at  the  time  that  Paul  effected  his  escape  from  the 
governor  of  the  city ;  and  others  have  not  hesitated  to  pro- 
nounce the  statement  of  Paul  as  unhistorical.  But  absolute 
proof  to  the  contrary  exists  in  coins  struck  by  this  king;^^  and 
what  renders  the  case  the  more  extraordinary  is  the  fact  that 
after  the  accession  of  Nero  and  several  of  his  successors,  coins 
again  exist.  Now  Damascus  had  previously  belonged  to  a  pre- 
decessor of  this  Aretas ;  and  there  is  strong  probability  that 
when  Caligula  deposed  and  banished  Herod  Antipas,  giving 
his  realm  to  Herod  Agrippa,  he  also  gave  Damascus  to  Aretas. 
Caligula  made  a  number  of  changes  in  the  year  38,  "granting 
Ituraea  to  Sooemus,  Less  Armenia,  and  parts  of  Arabia,  the 
territory  of  Cotys  to  Rhaemetalces,'^  etc.  Conybeare  and 
Howson  state  that 

"  The  Nabathsean  Arabs,  after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  grew  into  a 
civilized  nation,  built  a  great  mercantile  city  at  Petra,  and  were  ruled  by 
a  line  of  kings  which  bore  the  title  of  ^Aretas.'  The  Aretas  dynasty  ceased 
in  the  second  century,  when  Arabia  Petrsea  became  a  Roman  province  under 
Trajan."^ 

Josephus  mentions  that  the  Damascenes  had  many  years 

before  invited  an  earlier  Aretas  to  rule  over  them ;  that  Agrippa 

I,  the  favorite  at  court,  became  interested  in  their  behalf ;  that 

indeed  he  received  a  bribe  from  them  to  advocate  their  claims 

before  Flaccus,  prefect  of  Syria.^^     Eckhel  then  remarks : 

"It  is  therefore  not  unlikely  that,  in  A.  D.  38,  the  Damascenes, 
through  the  influence  of  Agrippa  at  the  imperial  court,  may,  at  his  own 
request,  have  been  transferred,  from  the  province  of  Syria  to  the  king- 
dom of  Petra.     The  coins  of  Aretas  (II),  with  the  inscription  *  Lover-of- 

17  Josephus,  Ant.  xvlll,  4,  5. 

18  See  Lewln's  Paul,  1,  67,  68;  comp.  Conybeare  and  Howson's  Paul,  1,  99,  n.  4; 
McOllntock  and  Strong's  Cycl.  1,  385,  In  which  Is  one  coin  of  Nero  exactly  answer- 
ing to  this  date,  A.  D.  37;  Smith's  Bible  Diet.  1, 152. 

19  Smith's  Bible  Diet.  1,  152.  «»  Life  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  1,  99,  n.  4. 
2i.4n«.  xvlll,6,  3. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    561 


Greeks,'  with  whom  he  wished  to  ingratiate  himself,  may  have  been 
struck  on  this  occasion.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  coins  of  Da- 
mascus have  been  found  with  the  heads  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius  ;22 
but  none  with  the  head  of  Caligula  or  Claudius;^  but  in  the  time  of 
Nero  24  the  head  of  the  emperor  again  appears.  The  inference  is  that 
Damascus  during  the  reign  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius  was  annexed  to 
Syria,  but  that  in  the  time  of  Caligula  it  was  severed  from  it  until  the 
reign  of  Nero.  This  would  satisfactorily  explain  how  Damascus  came  to 
have  an  ethnarch  or  Jewish  ruler  under  Aretas  in  A.  D.  39."  ^^ 

'*  Weiseler,  in  his  article  on  Aretas,  refei's  to  Mionnet  as  his  authority 
for  the  existence  of  a  coin  of  Aretas  which  bears  the  date  of  101  [A.  D.] 
Now,  if  this  date  refers  to  the  Pompeian  era,  the  coin  would  belong  to 
A.  D.  37-38,  about  the  time  in  which  Saul's  mission  to  Damascus  took 
place."  26 

Here  is  evidence  drawn  from  biographical,  historical,  and 
numismatic  sources,  all  of  which  concur  in  confirming  the  state- 
ments of  Paul  and  Luke  respecting  Aretas  being  in  power  as 
King  of  Damascus,  whose  subordinate — a  Jewish  governor — 
sought  to  seize  upon  the  person  of  the  apostle  when  he  escaped 
by  a  basket  let  down  over  the  wall.  Now  over  against  this 
evidence  there  is  absolutely  no  historical  warrant  whatever  to 
render  a  contrary  conclusion  reasonable.  Apart  from  the  con- 
firmation, the  statement  of  Paul  and  Luke  are  entitled  to  the 
consideration  given  to  profane  writers  of  history  under  similar 
circumstances ;  and  he  who  challenges  is  bound  to  refute  the 
sacred  writers  by  historical  facts,  and  not  make  merest  asser- 
tions or  assumptions. 

/3)  Ephesus  (Asia  Minor). 

"And  when  the  town  clerk  [temple-keeper]  had  quieted  the  multi- 
tude, he  saith:  Ye  men  of  Ephesus,  what  man  is  there  who  knoweth  not 
how  that  the  city  of  the  Ephesians  is  temple-keeper  of  the  great  Diana, 
and  of  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter  ?"27 

The  citizens  of  Ephesus,  in  whose  keeping  the  temple  was, 

charged  the  JVeokoros  with  the  duty  of  adorning  this  sanctuary 

of  Diana,  especially  on  the  occasions  of  the  public  games. 

This  temple  was  known  as  one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the 

22  A.  D.  1-37.  S3  A.  D.  37-54.  2*  A.  D.  64-68.  25  Eckhel,  111,  381. 

26  Farrar's  Life  and  Work  of  Paul,  Vol  I ;  Excursus,  vlil  and  Ix. 
•'Acts  xlx,  35. 


562  HiSTOKICAL  EvroENCE  OF  THE  NeW  TeSTAMENT. 


World,  and  the  sacred  games  observed  at  Ephesus  were  espe- 
cially famous.  There  are  several  coins  extant  which  bear  the 
veritable  words  used  by  Luke  in  reference  to  this  particular 
occasion.  Some  of  these  coins  add  "Diana."  The  term  iVe- 
oko/'os,  variously  rendered  in  English,*  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament  but  once,  and  this  one  use  serves  to  illustrate  the 
minute  accuracy  of  the  sacred  historian,  even  in  this  incidental 
matter,  in  giving  this  officer  his  proper  designation. 

Alford  says :  "  He  was  the  keeper  of  the  archives,  and  public  reader 
of  the  decrees  in  the  assemblies."  ^s  Thomas  Lewin  says:  "  He  was  in 
fact,  during  the  year  he  was  in  office,  the  representative  of  the  civil 
power,  and  was  president  and  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly. 
This  will  account  for  the  tone  of  authority  which  was  assumed  by  him 
on  the  riot  of  Demetrius."  ^  Conybeare  and  Howson  say:  "  The  games 
of  Asia  and  Ephesus  were  pre-eminently  famous ;  and  those  who  held 
the  office  of  president  of  the  games  were  men  of  high  distinction  and 
extensive  influence.  When  robed  in  mantles  of  purple  and  crowned 
with  garlands,  they  assumed  the  duty  of  regulating  the  gymnastic  con- 
tests, and  controlling  the  tumultuary  crowd  in  the  theater,  they  might 
literally  be  called  the  '  Chief  of  Asia.'  '"^ 

§396.  The  Cities  of  Eiirope. 

a)  Philippi  (Macedonia). 

"And  on  the  Sabbath  day  we  went  forth  without  the  gate  by  the 
river-side,  where  we  supposed  there  was  a  place  of  prayer;  and  we  sat 
down  and  spake  unto  the  women  who  had  come  together."  ^^ 

The  question  to  be  asked  and  answered  in  reference  to  the 
Scripture  cited  is:  What  is  the  meaning  of  Paul's  going  forth 
out  of  the  city  of  Philippi  on  the  Sabbath-day  to  a  place  of 
prayer,  in  order  to  find  a  congregation  of  hearers?  The  an- 
cient Jews  entertained  the  sentiment  that  the  seashore  or 
river-side  was  the  purest  possible  place  of  an  open  country  for 
the  worship  of  the  pure  and  true  God.  The  answer  to  the 
question  is  best  furnished  by  Jewish  and  other  authorities. 

*  Nea)K6po5- Is  rendered  '■'■Recorder"  by  Lewin;  ^''  Clean-sweeper^^  by  Green, 
but  denied  by  Suidas;  ^^  adornrr"  by  Alford  and  Bisooe;  '■'■temple-keeper  "  by  Rev. 
Version;  while  Thayer's  Greek-English  Lex.  of  the  New  Testament  defines  the 
term:  "  1.  ^  temple-cleaner ;  2.  One  in  charge  of,  and  adorner  of  the  temple;  3.  A  wor- 
shiper of  a  deity." 

i'^ln  loco.  29  Life  and  Epia.  of  Paul,  1,  815,  310. 

»'  Life  and  Epia.  of  Paul,  11,  i»6.  a'Acts  xvl,  13. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    563 

Josephus  says:  "Moses     .     .     .     thought  himself  obliged 

to  follow  the  custom  of  his  forefathers,  and  offered  his  prayers 

in  the  open  air."  ^     Pie  mentions  his  own  friends  at  Tiberias, 

who  "on  the  next  day  all  came  into  the  proseuoha  [i.  e.,  place 

of  prayer] ;  it  was  a  large  edifice,  and  capable  of  receiving  a 

great  number  of  people."^    He  also  cites  the  decree  of  the 

city  Halicarnassus : 

"  We  have  decreed  that  as  many  men  and  women  of  the  Jews  as  are 
willing  so  to  do,  may  celebrate  their  Sabbaths,  and  perform  their  holy 
oflBces,  according  to  the  Jewish  laws;  and  may  make  their  proseuchse  at 
the  seaside,  according  to  the  custom  of  their  forefathers."^ 

Philo,  the  celebrated  contemporary  of  Josephus,  mentions 
a  custom  of  the  Alexandrian  Jews  in  Egypt,  who 

"Early  in  the  morning  go  out  of  the  gates  of  the  city  in  crowds; 
that  they  go  to  the  shores  near  by,  and,  standing  in  a  very  pure  place, 
they  raise  their  voices  together^^  [in  worship]."  "  But  there  are  many 
places  of  prayer,  according  to  each  section  of  the  city."  ^ 

Juvenal  refers  to  the  Jews  at  Kome  having  a  place  outside 
the  gate  Capena,  where  a  fountain  was,  and  plenty  of  water. 
This  was  a  convenience,  for  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to 
wash  their  hands  before  prayers.  Tertullian,  the  Carthagin- 
ian, says: 

"  By  resoi'ting  to  these  customs  you  deliberately  deviate  from  your 
religious  rites  to  those  of  strangers.  For  the  Jewish  feasts  are  the  Sab- 
bath, .  .  .  and  the  fasts  of  unleavened  bread,  and  prayers  at  the  sea- 
side." ^^  And  after  the  temple  was  burned,  and  people  dispersed,  "by 
every  seaside"^  or  river-side. 

Proseucha  means  prayer ;  and  then  by  usage  acquired  the 
secondary  sense  of  a  jplace  for  prayer.  Where  no  synagogues 
existed  it  became  the  place  for  assemblies,  whether  it  was  a 
building,  an  oratory,  a  chape],  or  neither,  but  out  under  the 
open  sky.     Proseuchae  were  usually  placed  outside  of  towns  or 

32  Josephus  contra,  Ap.  1,  lib.  11,  2.  33  i,iff.  o/  Josephus,  54. 

3*  Ant.  xiv,  10,  23.  ^  ^In  Place.  QSJ,  D. 

**Twi'  irpoffevx^^v  iroXXai  3^  elcrl  Kad'  ^Kacrov  T/xTJixa  Trj<^  7r6X€W5-,  in  Flacc.  1011. 

iT  Oradones  littorales;  Ad  IVationes,  i,  xiii. 

3«Per  omne  litus  {Ante-Nic.  Fathers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  123,  n.  7,  citing  de  Jejun  xvl. 


564         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

cities,  as  the  laws  and  administrators  would  not  allow  them  to 
be  placed  within  the  walls,  especially  in  the  Roman  cities  and 
colonies.  Often  they  were  located  in  the  open  air,  or  in  a 
grove,  or  amidst  shrubbery,  or  under  a  tree ;  yet  always  near 
the  water,  for  the  purpose  of  ablutions,  which  preceded  Jewish 
devotions,  as  with  the  Moslem  of  to-day.  The  proseucha 
seems  to  have  existed  prior  to  the  synagogue.  In  Alexandria 
the  proseucha  was  a  synagogue,  but  not  so  in  Judaea.  Philip23i 
was  a  colony.  No  great  number  of  Jews  lived  there;  and  the 
persecution  of  Paul  and  Silas  at  Philippi  was  due  to  the  Gen- 
tiles and  not  to  the  Jews ;  for  the  city  was  a  military  garrison, 
a  colony  of  soldiers,  and  was  poorly  adapted  to  trade.  The 
proseucha  was  outside  the  city,  for  the  reason  that  the  author- 
ities would  not  permit  a  service  so  at  variance  to  heathen  wor- 
ship, to  be  near  heathen  temples.     Thomas  Lewin  says : 

"These  proseuchse  were  commonly  in  the  open  air  and  uncovered, 
being  spacious  areas,  like  for  a  or  market-places.  The  Jewish  ceremo- 
nial law  was  accompanied  with  frequent  ablutions ;  and  the  public  wor- 
ship was  generally  conducted  for  convenience  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  water ;  and  Luke  places  the  oratory  in  question  without  the  city  by 
the  side  of  the  river.  ...  It  would  seem  that  this  river  was  not  im- 
mediately under  the  walls  of  the  city,  but  at  some  little  distance.  Now, 
Philippi  is  surrounded  by  numerous  little  springs ;  whence  its  old  name 
^ Krenides;'^  but  there  is  only  one  river'*"  in  the  vicinity,  .  .  .  the 
Ganges  or  Gangltes,  and  is  now  known  as  Bournabachi.  ...  As  Paul's 
invariable  practice  was  to  make  the  first  appeal  to  his  own  countrymen, 
the  missionaries  on  the  Sabbath-day  attended  divine  services  at  the  or- 
dinary [proseucha],  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  the  new  doctrine."  *^ 

Thus  again  the  custom  of  Paul  in  his  missionary  itinerary 
as  recorded  by  Luke,  and  incidentally  introduced  in  the  narra- 
tion, finds  ample  confirmation  in  both  ancient  and  modern 
authorities  respecting  the  Jewish  usage  of  worship  of  that  pe- 
riod in  heathen  lands.  No  author  of  equal  antiquity,  feigning 
historical  claims,  would  think  to  adventure  into  such  minute 
particularizations  of  description  for  fear  of  tripping.  It  is 
precisely  this   incidental  mention  of  minute  details,  uncon- 

3»  Kprjvcde^.  «>  UoTa/xd^.  <i  Life  and  Epis.  of  St.  Paul,  1,  212, 218. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    565 

sciously  inserted,  found  to  be  in  accordance  with  other  histor- 
ical statements,  which  carries  the  conviction  that  the  writer 
was  writing  the  truth  on  the  spot,  and  relates  circumstances 
understandingly  as  he  saw  them.  And  the  conviction  is  irre- 
sistible. The  historian,  writing  under  such  circumstances, 
enables  the  reader  to  see  the  facts  mentioned  through  the 
eyes  of  the  writer. 

/3)  Thessalonica  (Macedonia). 

".And  when  they  found  them  not  [Paul  and  Silas],  they  dragged 
Jason  and  certain  brethren  before  the  rulers  of  the  city,  crying:  These 
who  have  turned  the  world  upside  down  are  come  hither  also ;  whom 
Jason  hath  received ;  and  these  all  act  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  C?esar, 
saying  there  is  another  king  called  Jesus.  And  they  troubled  the 
multitude  and  the  rulers  of  the  city,  when  they  heard  these  things."''^ 

The  term  used  by  Luke  for  "the  rulers"  is  Hhe  jpolitarchsP ^ 
It  occurs  twice  in  this  one  citation,  but  nowhere  else  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  Evangelist  employs  the  word  with  remarka- 
ble intelligence  and  discrimination.  Etymologically,  the  title 
means  the  "rulers  or  prefects  of  a  city."  That  which  lends  in- 
terest to  its  use  here  is,  that  the  term  which  Luke  uses  with  his 
characteristic  accuracy  is  found  in  no  other  ancient  writing.  On 
this  account,  some  have  doubted  whether  the  sacred  writer  was 
correct  in  employing  that  particular  word  to  convey  the  func- 
tion of  the  city  magistrates  of  Thessalonica.  "  But  wisdom  is 
justified  of  her  children."  Across  the  great  Roman  road  known 
as  the  Egnatian  Way,  which  divides  the  city  in  two  parts,  a 
Triumphal  Arch  has  recently  been  discovered  which  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  victory  won  by  Augustus  and  Antony  over  Brutus 
and  Cassius  at  Philippi.  This  highway  runs  east  and  west 
through  Thessalonica,  and  this  monument  stands  near  the  west 
end.  Its  inscription  is  in  Greek  letters  written  on  marble,  and 
states  that  the  inagistracy  of  Thessalonica  was  vested  in  seven 
men  called  Politarchs.     Professor  Salmon  says : 

"At  Thessalonica  the  magistrates  [in  the  plural]  are  called  Poli- 
tarchs.    Now  this  name  is  found  in  connection  with  Thessalonica  in  no 


«Acts  xvU,  6-8.  «Toi>5-  TToXtTdpxar. 


566         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ancient  author ;   but  the  arch  which  to  this  day  spans  the  main  street 
bears  the  inscription  that  it  had  been  raised  by  the  seven  politarchs."  * 

It  is  something  to  be  remarked  that,  out  of  the  seven 
names  mentioned  in  the  inscription  on  the  arch  as  politarchs, 
i<ix  are  named  in  the  New  Testament  as  Christians,  and  at 
least  three  were  PauVs  pe7'sonal  friends  belonging  to  this  par- 
ticular country.  These  names  are  Secundus  of  Thessalonica,^ 
Sopater  of  Berea,^  and  Gaius  of  Macedonia.^ 

It  is  the  judicious  remark  of  Thomas  Lewin: 

"  We  have  here  again  an  instance  of  the  extreme  accuracy  of  Luke 
in  describing  the  magistrates  of  Thessalonica  by  a  title  not  given  to  them 
in  books,  from  vphich  an  impostor  might  have  gathered  the  fact,  but 
found  only  in  ancient  monuments  accidentally  brought  to  light  in  com- 
paratively modern  times."*' 

Conybeare  and  Ilowson  remark : 

"It  is  at  least  well  worth  while  to  notice,  as  a  mere  matter  of 
Christian  evidence,  how  accurately  St.  Luke  writes  concerning  the 
political  characteristics  of  the  cities  and  provinces  which  he  mentions. 
He  takes  notice  in  the  most  artless  and  incidental  manner  of  minute 
details  which  a  fraudulent  composer  would  judiciously  avoid,  and  which, 
in  the  mythical  result  of  a  mere  oral  tradition,  would  surely  be  loose 
and  inexact.  Cyprus  is  a  proconsular  province.^  Philippi  is  '  a  colony.' 
The  magistrates  of  Thessalonica  have  an  unusual  title  unmentioned  in 
ancient  literature ;  but  it  appears,  from  a  monument  of  a  different  kind, 
that  the  title  is  perfectly  correct.  And  the  whole  aspect  of  what  hap- 
pened at  Thessalonica,  as  compared  with  events  at  Philippi,  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  ascertained  difference  in  the  political  condition  of  the 
two  places.  There  is  no  mention  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
Roman  citizen  ;  but  we  are  presented  with  a  mixed  mob  of  Greeks  and 
Jews  who  are  anxious  to  show  themselves  to  be  '  Cpesar's  friends.'  "  ■'^ 
"And  these  magistrates,  by  whom  the  question  at  issue  is  ultimately 
decided,  ai*e  not  Roman  pnetors,  but  Greek  politarchs."^" 


*Bampton  Lects.  1881,  5th  ed.  p.  822.  This  arch  consists  of  marble  masonry  In 
blocks  six  feet  thick,  making  a  span  of  twelve  feet  and  eighteen  feet  high.  The 
Inscription  reads:  nOAEITAPXOTNTON  SOZIRATPOT  TOT  KAEO  HATPAS 
KAI  AOTKIOT  HONTIOT  SEKOTNAOT  ITOTBMOT  *AAOTIOT  2ABEIN0T 
AHMHTPIOT  TOT  *ATSTOT  AHMHTPIOT  TOT  NIKOnOAEfiS  ZfilAOT  TOT 
DAPMENmNOS  TOT  KAI  MENISKOT  TAIOT  AFIAAHIOT  HOTEITOT. 
(See  Conybeare  and  Howsou'sjPawi,  vol.  i,  p.  395. 

**Acts  XX,  4.  4676.  XX,  4.  *61b.  xix,  29. 

iTLife  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  1,  282,  n.  118,  and  p.  220.  48 Acts  xlii,  7. 

«  Comp.  John  xix,  12.  f^IAfe  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  1,  396. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World,    567 

This  minute  exactness  with  which  the  Evangelist  Luke — 
traveling  through  strange  countries  where  different  languages 
are  spoken  and  different  customs  of  the  people  prevail  under 
different  governments,  making  mention  of  different  communi- 
ties in  different  lands  and  different  officers  in  different  cities  and 
nations,  recording  titles  not  to  be  found  in  books,  yet  since 
proved  conclusively  to  be  correct — is  something  wonderful  as 
an  attestation  of  the  writer's  superior  intelligence  and  relia- 
bility. Some  of  these  terms  and  designations  have  been  ques- 
tioned or  denied  as  being  true ;  others  were  unknown  to  his- 
tory, and  therefore  doubted;  but  every  one,  once  questioned, 
has  since  been  strictly  verified  as  historical.  Thus  a  "pro- 
consul" presided  at  Cyprus;  a  " chiliarch " ^^  commanded  sol- 
diers at  Jerusalem;  the  "asiarchs"^  ruled  at  Ephesus;  the 
"praetors"  and  "lictors"  are  found  in  Koman  Philippi;^  and 
" politarchs " ^  are  in  authority  in  Greek  Thessalonica. 

7)  Athens  (AchaIa). 

"Now  while  Paul  waited  for  them  at  Athens,  his  spirit  was  pro- 
voked within  him  as  he  beheld  the  city  full  of  idols.  And  Paul  said : 
Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye  are  very  religious.* 
For  as  I  passed  along  and  observed  the  objects  of  your  worship,  I  found 
an  altar  with  this  inscription :    To  the  Unknown  God."^ 

The  special  point  to  be  determined  is,  whether  an  altar 
bearing  such  inscription  as  is  here  affirmed  was  existent  as  an 
altar  of  devotion  in  Athens  at  the  time  mentioned.  Some 
opinions  have  doubted  the  historical  worth  of  Paul's  state- 
ment and  Luke's  record.  What  proof,  if  any,  does  history 
furnish  in  conformity  with  the  apostle's  observation,  inci- 
dentally mentioned  by  him  in  his  address  on  the  hill  Areop- 
agus, in  this  classic  city? 

First.  It  is  to  be  carefully  observed  that  the  Greeks  were 
conspicuous  as  being  an  extremely  religious  people,  and  the 

*  AeicnSaifwvecTT^pov^ . 

"  XiX/apxor,  commander  of  a  thousand,  Acts  xxl,  3L 

^*A(Tidpxv<^,  the  officer  of  provincial  "Asia,"  In  charge  of  festivals  and  games. 
Acts  xix,  31.        S3/d.  xvi,  35.  647c;.  xvU,  6,  8.  ^^Id.  xvU,  16,  22,  23. 


568         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Athenians  were  the  most  devoted  of  the  Greeks.  Josephus, 
the  contemporary  of  Paul,  explicitly  affirms  that  the  Athenians 
were  "the  most  religious  of  the  Greeks."^  Now,  at  this 
period,  the  Romans  pursued  the  policy  of  suppressing  Judaism 
and  Christianity  as  one,  because  the  object  of  worship  was  not 
authorized  by  the  State ;  but,  upon  the  contrary,  the  Athenians, 
being  of  more  liberal  sentiment,  received  by  public  authority* 
the  deities  of  foreign  nations,  and  even  erected  altars  to  those 
who  were  to  them  unknown.  Jerome^'  mentions  that  at 
Athens  an  altar  was  dedicated  to  the  gods  of  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa ;  that  is,  the  gods  of  the  world  at  large  were  com- 
prehensively included,  whether  known  or  unknown.  To  the 
testimony  of  Jerome  is  to  be  added  that  of  the  geographer 
Strabo,  who  says  that  "the  Athenians,  as  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  take  other  things  from  foreigners,  so  also  the  gods; 
for  from  strangers  they  received  many  rites,  even  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  be  made  the  subject  of  comedy."^  Pausanias,^ 
an  antiquarian  traveler  who  visited  Athens  from  fifty  to  a 
hundred  years  after  the  apostle,  makes  mention  of  temples 
erected  to  the  gods,  extending  along  the  highway  for  five 
miles  from  the  harbor  Peraeus  to  the  Acropolis  of  the  city,  and 
he  remarks  that,  while  all  Greece  was  notable  for  devotion  to 
religion,  more  gods  existed  in  Athens  than  in  all  the  remain- 
ing country.  G.  S.  Davies,  A.  M.,  in  his  work  entitled  Paul  in 
Greece,  says : 

"We  learn  fi-om  Pliny  that,  at  the  time  of  Nero,  Athens  contained 
over  three  thousand  statues,  besides  a  countless  number  of  less 
images  within  the  walls  of  private  houses.  If  there  were  the  least 
reason  to  suspect  Pliny  of  exaggeration,  Pausanias's  subsequent  descrip- 
tion would  assist  us  to  realize  its  veracity.  In  one  street,  well  known 
to  the  readers  of  history  for  its  connection  with  one  of  the  strangest 
episodes  in  Athenian  politics,  there  stood  before  every  house  a  square 
pillar  carrying  upon  it  a  bust  of  the  god  Hermes,  whence  the  street  bore 

*It  was  death  for  any  private  person  to  disturb  the  religion  of  the  State  by 
the  introduction  of  a  foreign  god  that  had  not  been  recognized.  (Lewln,  Life  and 
Epis.  of  Paul,  \,  2m.) 

66Toi5?-  eme^iararovi;  tC>v  "E\\i]vwv,  Contra  Ap.  11,  12.  '>TComm.  Tit.  1,  12. 

58  Lib.  X,  471.  ^'^  Pausan.  xxlv,  C. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    569 

the  name  of  '  the  street  Hermes.'  Another  street  of  the  Tripods  was 
lined  with  tripods  dedicated  by  winners  in  Greek  national  games,  and 
carrying  each  one  an  inscription  of  a  deity."  ^ 

In  short,  so  numerous  were  the  niches  for  the  statues  of 
the  gods  in  this  classic  and  elegant  city,  that  in  every  grove 
and  garden,  on  every  street  and  avenue,  at  every  gate  and  angle 
of  the  highway,  at  every  porch  and  purlieu,  was  a  sculptured 
form  of  a  deity  to  address  the  eye,  or  a  sanctuary  for  devo- 
tions to  a  god.  Everywhere  was  one  in  the  presence  of  a 
divinity ;  so  that  the  stricture  of  a  Roman  satirist  was  hardly 
an  exaggeration,  that  "  in  Athens  it  was  easier  to  find  a  god 
than  a  man."^^  Even  the  Acropolis,  the  eminence  of  great 
height,  which  was  the  earliest  seat  of  Athens,  whose  summit 
embraces  about  two  acres,  was  adorned  with  marble  tem- 
ples of  a  magnificent  order  and  finish — the  crowning  glory  of 
Athens — parts  of  which  temples  remain  to  this  day,  evi- 
dencing the  greatest  skill  of  the  mightiest  masters  of  art, 
verifying  the  figurative  saying  attributed  to  Xenophon  that 
"  The  Acropolis  was  one  altar,  sacrifice,  and  votive  offering  to 
the  gods,  and  that  they  were  obliged  to  keep  such  a  number  of 
feasts  as  did  no  other  city  of  the  Greeks."®  Dionysius  Hali- 
carnassensis  declares  that,  "  If  any  praise  belonged  to  the  city 
of  the  Athenians,  it  was  chiefly  that  in  all  things,  and  at  all 
times,  they  followed  the  gods,  and  did  nothing  without  their 
direction."^  These  facts  are  in  strict  accordance  with  the 
statement  that  there  did  exist  at  Athens  an  altar  dedicated 
"  To  the  Unknown  God." 

Secondly,  "We  are  not  left  to  conjecture,  however,  as 
to  the  specific  fact  of  such  an  altar  as  that  referred  to  by 
the  apostle,  which  commanded  the  devotions  of  the  Athenians. 
Apollonius  says  that,  at  Athens,  altars  of  the  unknown  gods 
were  built  ;'^  and  other  pagan  writers  mention  those  dedicated 

60  Pp.  140,  HL         <i^Petron.  Sat.  17;  cf.  Livy,  xiv,  29.         «» Be  Bepub.  Ath.  699,  B. 

«  Thucyd.  Hist.  $4-,  nied. 

**' Ad7iinfi<Tiv  oil  Kal  ay vdcTTuv Sal/xovidv ^<i)nolll8pvvvTai,  Phllo9.de  Vit.Apoll.  vi, 3. 


570         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

to  unknown  divinities,^  wherein  the  use  of  the  plural  number 
by  no  means  necessitates  the  conclusion  that  there  was  none 
in  the  singular  as  well  as  in  the  plural.  It  is  fairly  inferable 
that  each  altar  bore  the  inscription,  '  To  the  Unknown  God.' 
Winer  so  understands  the  application  of  these  words,  and  Dr. 
Plumptre  seems  so  to  regard  this  as  the  intended  meaning, 
comparing  the  celebrated  inscription  on  the  veil  of  Isis  and  a 
Mithraic  inscription  on  an  altar  at  Ostia,  'The  Sign  of  the 
Undiscovered  Deity.' "  ^ 

The  Greeks  represented  their  own  gods  invariably  in  statu- 
ary, of  whose  origin,  character,  and  history  they  had  their  own 
accounts.  Accordingly,  it  was  difficult  for  them  to  conceive 
that  there  could  be  a  Divine  Being  who  was  at  once  "the 
eternal,  immortal,  iivvisible,  the  only  wise  God."  If,  withal, 
they  knew  not  even  his  name,  they  must  hold  in  reverential 
regard  One  whom  others  cognized  as  "The  Unknown  God." 
Such  was  the  Hebrews'  God.  To  pronounce  the  Ineffable 
Name  Jehovah®^  belonged  alone  to  the  high  priest,  which 
he  could  pronounce  only  on  the  great  day  of  Atonement, 
when  he  stood  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  sprinkling  the  mercy- 
seat  with  blood,  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  By 
reason  of  the  Name  being  incommunicable,  the  proper  pro- 
nunciation of  it  at  length  was  lost,  and  became  "  unknown." 
That  the  Athenian  altar  referred  directly  to  the  true  God,  is 
obvious  in  that  the  apostle  identified  him  as  such  when  he 
said :  "  Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  declare  I 
unto  you."  The  Greek  historian  of  the  Romans,  Dion  Cassius, 
designates  as  the  Divine  Being  that  which  "may  not  be  ex- 
pressed." In  reply  to  Philo  and  his  Jewish  companions,  Caius 
Caligula  replied:  "Ye  are  god-haters  who  esteem  not  me  to 
be  a  god,  but  Him  that  may  not  be  named  by  you."*®  Lucan 
and  also  Trebellius  Pollio  mention  Him  as  "  an  undiscovered 


^' Ayv<I)(TTU}v  Saifidviov,  Diog.  Laert.  i,  x,  110,  etc. 

«  Farrar's  Lifr  and  Work  of  Paul,  1,  631,  ii.  4.  "  nirT" 

'''AXXA  rbv  dKaT0p6fji.a(TT0P  vfJ.iv,  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caium,  $44,  p.  1041,  A.  B. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  "World.    571 

[uncertain]  God;"^^  and  Justin  Martyr  refers  to  God  as  the 
"All-Hidden"™  in  the  sense  of  the  invisible,  unrevealed.  But 
in  the  second  century,  Lucian,  in  his  work  called  Philopatris, 
written  in  opposition  to  Christianity,  represents  a  Christian  as 
saying:  ^^  We  have  found  the  Unknown  God  at  Athens,  and 
worshiped  him  with  hands  outstretched  towards  heaven;  and 
we  give  thanks  to  him  as  being  thought  worthy  to  be  the  sub- 
jects of  his  power  ;"^  and  this  writer  in  another  place,  em- 
ploys this  formula  of  an  oath :  "  I  swear  by  the  Unknown  God 
at  Athens."'^ 

Thirdly.  As  already  intimated,  Paul  distinctly  claims  the 
"Unknown  God"  of  the  Athenian  altar  as  identical  with  the 
Hebrew  Jehovah,  whom  the  apostle  proceeds  to  make  known : 
"  Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship.  Him  declare  I  unto 
you."  The  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament,  is  the  Jesus  of  the 
New.  The  Athenians  conceived  the  existence  of  the  invisible 
God,  but  confessed  ignorance  of  his  character  and  relation  to 
them  as  his  worshipers.  This  fact  at  least  is  secure;  but 
how  could  the  idea  of  such  a  deity  have  been  imported  into 
Athens? 

When  Alexander  the  Great  made  his  extended  campaign 
against  the  Persians,  he  passed  through  Palestine  (about 
B.  C.  333) ;  and  as  he  approached  Jerusalem  he  was  met  by  a 
multitude  of  the  Jews.  The  mighty  conqueror  stood  in  utter 
amazement  when  he  beheld  the  high  priest'^  at  the  front  of 
the  people,  robed  in  purple  and  scarlet  cloth,  bearing  upon  a 
golden  plate  on  the  forefront  of  his  miter  the  inscription 
of  the  incommunicable  I^ame  written  in  four  Hebrew  let- 
ters,"^ which  in  reverence  none  but  the  high  priest  could  ever 
pronounce,  and  he  only  when  alone  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  once 


«9  "  Incertus  Deus,"  Pharsalia,  il,  592. 

'">Tr<iyKpv<j)0^,  Paraead  Oraec.  15  38. 

^I'H/xetf  5^  rbv  iv  ' Adrjvaii;-  iyvwaTov  (peOpovreg- ,  etc.,  Philopat.  xxix,  180. 

72  JJ^  rhv  &yvii}(TTOv  it>  ' Adrjvai:;' ,  Philopat.  xlii,  769. 

78 That  is,  the  high  priest  Jacklua  ('loSSovc)  B.  C.  332;  Josephus,  Ant.  xl,  8,  »-6. 

'^mn' — Jehovdh,  or  probably  proQOunced  ^^  Vahveh.^' 


572         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

a  year.  Further,  Josephus  relates  that,  upon  discovering  this 
ISTame,  Alexander  "approached  by  himself,  and  adored  that 
Name,"  declaring  that  at  Deos  in  Macedonia  he  had  had  a 
vision,  in  which  he  saw  this  identical  man  as  high  priest,  in 
these  robes,  and  bearing  this  miter  with  this  inscrutable 
Name,  who  urged  Alexander  to  push  on  his  campaign,  for  he 
would 

"  Conquer  Darius,  and  destroy  the  power  of  the  Persians  ;"  that  he 
then  "  went  up  into  the  temple  and  offered  sacrifice  to  God,  according  to 
the  high  priest's  directions,  and  magnificently  treated  both  the  high 
priest,  and  the  [other]  priests.  And  when  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  shown 
him,  wherein  Daniel  declared  that  one  of  the  Greeks  should  destroy  the 
empire  of  the  Persians,  he  supposed  that  himself  was  the  person  in- 
tended." Moreover,  "he  said  to  the  multitude  that  if  any  of  them 
should  enlist  in  his  army,  they  should  continue  to  live  according  to  the 
laws  of  their  forefathers,  .  .  .  and  many  were  ready  to  accompany 
him  in  his  wars."  ^^ 

Now,  since  the  spread  of  the  Greek  language  throughout 
the  East  is  attributed  to  this  conqueror  and  campaign,  with  so 
many  Jews  mixed  with  his  soldiery  in  making  his  conquests,  it 
is  rational  to  suppose  that,  upon  his  return  to  Greece,  Alexander 
and  his  army  brought  with  them  a  knowledge  of  the  Supreme 
Being  whose  prophet  had  predicted  Alexander's  successes, 
especially  as  Alexander  himself  had  had  a  vision  apart  from 
the  prediction  of  Daniel  respecting  him,  all  of  which  had  been 
verified  now  in  history  to  the  very  letter.  Nevertheless,  as 
respected  the  relation,  the  character,  and  claim  of  this  inscru- 
table Deity,  he  must  have  remained  to  the  religious  Athenians 
essentially  "  The  Unlinown  God."  About  a  half-century  after- 
wards, the  Jewish  Scriptures  were  translated  into  the  Greek 
Septuagint,  and  were  published  abroad  as  that  language  be- 
came the  language  of  common  intercourse  between  the  na- 
tions.'* 

Thomas  Lewin  observes : 

"  Since  the  conquest  of  Alexander  the  Great  an  intimacy  subsisted 
between  the  Jews  and  Greeks,  and  in  particular  the  Athenians  had  en- 


'5^n^  xl,  8,  5;  comp.  Dan.  vU,  6;  vlll,  8-8,  20-22;  xi,  3.       «  About  280  B.  C. 


Paul's  Missionary  Joukneys  to  the  Gentile  World.    573 

tered  into  a  treaty  with  that  singular  people,  and  had  greatly  honored 
Hyrcanus  the  high  priest ;  and  it  is  scarcely  credible  that  the  Athenians 
who  adopted  the  gods  of  all  foreigners,  should  have  excluded  Jehovah, 
whose  mighty  acts  could  not  but  be  familiar  to  the  neighboring  nations."" 

Nor  is  there  any  evidence  of  such  exclusion. 

Here  is  a  combination  of  circumstances  extraordinary  in- 
deed, and  without  a  parallel  in  history.  The  repeated  refer- 
ence to  the  Athenian  altar  bearing  such  an  inscription — an 
altar  with  reference  to  which  oaths  were  solemnized;  the 
different  forms  of  expression  used  by  different  heathens,  espe- 
cially by  Roman  pagans  of  eminence ;  such  as  emperor,  historian, 
and  adversary  to  Christianity,  as  well  as  by  Christians,  to  con- 
vey the  thought  of  "The  Unknown"  but  not  unknowable 
God — are  the  things  which  justify  the  belief  in  the  historical 
existence  of  the  Athenian  altar  and  inscription  referred  to  by 
the  Apostle  Paul,  and  recorded  by  Luke.  As  to  the  identity 
of  that  God  with  the  nameless  one  seen  by  Alexander  in  his 
vision  at  Deos,  and  afterward  on  the  high  priest's  miter  near 
Jerusalem,  known  as  the  incommunicable  Name,  and  Alexan- 
der's return  to  Greece  with  his  army  in  close  contact  with  so 
many  Jews,  these  facts  furnish  a  reasonable  and  sufficient 
ground  for  the  Athenians  to  erect  for  themselves  an  altar  with 
the  inscription,  "To  the  Unknown  God,"^^ 

§397.  Paurs  Voyage  to  Borne  (Mediterranean  Sea). 

I. 

"And  when  it  was  determined  that  we  should  sail  for  Italy,  they 
delivered  Paul  and  certain  other  prisoners  to  a  centurion  named  Julius, 
of  the  Augustan  band.™  And  embarking  on  a  ship  of  Adramyttium 
which  was  about  to  sail  unto  the  places  on  the  coast  of  Asia,  we  put  to 

sea."80 

Whether  Julius  and  his  cohort  were  citizen  soldiers  of  Caesa- 
rea,  a  city  of  Judaea,  built  in  honor  of  Augustus  Caesar,  or  be- 

"  Life  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  1,  268,  264. 

"See  Lewln,  Life  and  Epis.  of  St.  Paul,  i,  263,  264. 

''^ Iiirelpr)^  ScjSao-riJ?-  Augustan  cohort,  trom  the  city  Sebaate;  both  city  and 
cohort  so  named  in  honor  of  Augustus,  the  first  and  honored  emperor  of  the 
Romans.  so  Acts  xxvii,  2. 

37 


574         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

longed  to  that  band  at  Rome  which  was  attached  to  the  person 
of  the  emperor,  is  possibly  now  indeterminate,  and  certainly 
is  irrelevant  to  this  discussion.  There  are  opinions  favoring 
each  proposition  among  learned  men.  There  is  conclusive 
proof  that  in  both  countries  there  were  bodies  of  soldiers  bear- 
ing the  designation.  Alford  thinks  that  Julius  had  been  sent 
from  Rome  to  Asia  on  some  service,  and  was  now  returning 
when  Paul,  with  other  prisoners,  was  placed  in  his  charge. 
Josephus  says  that,  "the  Syrians,  .  .  .  valuing  themselves 
highly  on  this  account,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  Roman 
soldiers  that  were  there  [i.  e.  at  Caesarea]  were  either  of  Cses- 
area  or  Sebaste."  *^ 
Tacitus  says : 

"At  this  time  also  was  first  enrolled  the  body  of  Roman  knights 
entitled  Augustani;  men  in  the  prime  of  life  and  remarkable  for  their 
bodily  vigor.  Some  were  naturally  licentious,  others  with  the  pros- 
pects of  promotion.  They  are  occupied  by  day  and  night  in  applaud- 
ing the  prince  [the  emperor]  as  loudly  as  they  could,  applying  to  him 
and  his  voice  terms  appropriate  to  the  gods,  and  lived  in  honor  and  re- 
nown, as  though  they  were  preferred  for  their  virtues."  ^^ 

II. 

But  the  main  predicates  in  the  Scripture  cited  may  be 
formulated  thus:  that  prisoners  were  not  unfrequently  sent  to 
Rome  for  judgment ;  that  often  they  were  sent  to  the  capital 
in  chains;  that  those  from  this  region  were  sent  to  Italy  by 
sea ;  and  that  the  apostle  was  thus  sent  upon  his  appeal  unto 
Caesar. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  in  the  outset  that  every  impor- 
tant detail  of  the  apostle's  voyage,  as  reported  in  Acts,  has 
been  questioned  and  even  condemned  in  advance  of  any 
proper  investigation.  It  is  even  more  interesting  to  know 
that  the  whole  history  of  Paul's  journey  thither  has  been 
traversed  critically  anew ;  and  after  the  most  critical  exami- 
nation possible,  every  particular  narrated  by  Luke  has  been 

M  Josephus  mentions  that  "  Cumanus  took  one  troop  of  horsemen  out  of 
CiEsarea  called  the  troop  of  Sebaste.''''     Wars,  11, 12,  5. 

^'^  Annals,  xiv,  15;  comp.  Sueton.  on  Nero,  c.  20,  close. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    575 

completely  verified.  The  nautical  terms  used  by  Luke  have 
been  declared  incorrect;  the  ports  mentioned  have  been  un- 
real; the  Island  of  Melita  (Malta),  the  scene  of  Paul's  ship- 
wreck, has  been  called  a  myth ;  the  existence  of  serpents  on 
the  island  has  been  absolutely  denied ;  and  the  geography  and 
hydrography  of  the  route  have  been  more  than  doubted ;  while 
maps  and  charts  have  been  reconstructed  accordant  with  these 
preconceived  notions. 

As  intimated,  a  comparatively  recent  survey,  conducted 
upon  strictly  scientific  principles  of  modern  navigation,  has 
been  made,  which  not  only  destroys  these  false  assumptions, 
but  substantiates  beyond  recall  the  record  by  Luke  of  Paul's 
voyage.  A  thorough  search  has  been  made  into  the  local  and 
historical  facts,  independently  of  traditions,  relating  to  the  har- 
bors touched  in  the  route,  and  verifications  found  and  recorded, 
which  leaves  nothing  more  to  be  desired.  The  results  have 
been  given  to  the  world,  published  in  London,  entitled  The 
Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul^  in  which  both  processes 
and  conclusions  are  given.     One  or  two  citations  must  sufiice : 

"  Since  the  second  edition  was  printed,  the  completion  of  the 
Admiralty  survey  of  the  South  Coast  of  Crete,  and  the  publication  of 
sailing  directions  for  the  Island  of  Crete  by  Captain  Spratt,  R.  N.,  and 
the  travels  and  researches  in  Crete  by  the  same  author,  leave  noth- 
ing to  be  desired  for  the  geographical  details  of  this  part  of  the  voyage. 
We  have  now  all  four  localities  mentioned;  viz.,  Fair  Havens,  Clauda, 
Lasea,  and  Port  Phenice,  each  of  them  agreeing  most  minutely  with  the  nar- 
ratives, and  still  retaining  the  names  given  them  by  St.  Luke."^ 

"  Although  we  can  scarcely  have  a  stronger  case  of  traditional  evi- 
dence than  the  present,  in  the  following  inquiry  I  attach  no  weight  to  it 
whatever.  I  do  not  even  assume  the  authenticity  of  the  narrative  of 
the  voyage  and  shipwreck  contained  in  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  but  scru- 
tinize St.  Luke's  account  of  the  voyage,  precisely  as  I  would  do  those 
of  Baffin  or  Middleton,  or  of  any  ancient  voyage  of  doubtful  authority, 
or  involving  points  on  which  controversies  have  been  raised.  A  search- 
ing comparison  of  the  narrative  with  the  localities  where  the  events  so 
circumstantially  related  are  said  to  have  taken  place,  with  the  aids 
which  recent  advances  in  our  knowledge  of  the  geography  and  the  navi- 
gation of  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean  supply,  accounts  for 

83  By  James  Smith,  F.  R.  S.,  etc.,  3d  ed.  1866. 

84  "  Voyage  and  Shipwreck,^'  Preface,  3d  ed,  p.  1. 


576         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

every   transaction,   clears  up  every  difficulty,  and  exhibits  an  agreement  so 
perfect  in  all  its  parts  as  to  admit  of  but  one  explanation,  namely,  that  it  is 

A  NARRATION     OF    REAL    EVENTS,    WRITTEN  BY  ONE  PEIISONALLY   ENGAGED   IN 
THEM,  AND  THAT  THE  TRADITION   RESPECTING  THE  LOCALITY  IS   TRUE."  ^ 

It  is  a  common  practice  of  the  period  for  the  authorities  to 

send  prisoners  from  this  region  to  Rome,  to  account  to  the 

emperor  for  their  conduct.      Josephus  says  that  Quadratus, 

president  of  Syria, 

"  Sent  away  Ananus  the  high  priest,  and  Ananus  the  commander 
[of  the  Temple],  in  bonds  to  Rome,  to  give  an  account  of  what  they 
had  done  to  Claudius  Caesar.  He  also  ordered  the  principal  men,  both 
of  the  Samaritans  and  of  the  Jews,  as  also  Cumanus  the  procurator, 
and  Celer  the  tribune,  to  go  to  Italy  to  the  emperor  that  he  might  hear 
their  cause  and  determine  their  differences."^^  "Then  Varus  did  for- 
give the  multitude  their  offenses,  but  sent  their  captain  to  Ceesar  to  be 
examined  by  him."*^  "  Felix  took  Eleazar,  the  arch  robber,  and  many  of 
them  that  were  with  him  alive,  when  they  had  ravaged  the  country  for 
twenty  years  together,  and  sent  them  to  Rome."**  "When  Felix  was 
procurator  of  Judsea,  there  were  certain  priests  of  my  acquaintance,  and 
very  excellent  persons  they  were,  whom,  on  small  and  trifling  occasions, 
he  had  put  into  bonds  and  sent  them  to  Rome  to  plead  their  cause  before 
Osesar."  ^^  "  Vitellius  sent  Marcellus,  a  friend  of  his,  to  take  care  of  the 
affairs  of  Judpea,  and  ordered  Pilate  to  go  to  Rome  to  answer  before  the 
emperor  the  accusation  of  the  Jews."^° 

Pliny  remarks  of  his  own  administration   respecting  the 

Christians : 

"  There  were  others  under  like  infatuation  ;  but  as  they  were  Roman 
citizens,  I  directed  them  to  be  sent  to  the  capital."  ^^  Suetonius  states 
that  "All  appeals  in  causes  between  inhabitants  of  Rome  were  assigned 
every  year  to  the  praetor  of  the  city,  and,  where  the  provincials  were 
concerned,  to  men  of  consular  rank,  to  one  of  whom  the  business  of 
each  province  was  referred."  ^^ 

§308.  Shipwreck  at  Melita  (Malta). 

III. 

"And  when  we  were  escaped,  then  we  knew  that  the  island  was 
called  Melita"  (Malta).^^ 

Several  persons  of  distinction  have  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  island  Malta  was  not  the  scene  of  Paul's  ship\vTeck, 

86  Voyage  and  Shipivreck,  Introd.  xv,  xvl. 

8^  Ant.  XX,  6,  2;   Wars,  11,  12,  6.  8-  Wars.  11,  .5,  3.  88  /ft.  ij,  13^  2. 

89 Life  Josephus,  $  3.  ^Anl.  xvlU,  4,  2. 

91  Epis.  to  Trajan;  comp.  Martyr.  Igiiatius,  c.  11.  »2  Augustus,  33. 

»3Acts  xxvlU,  1. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  "World.    577 

and  others  have  not  hesitated  to  claim  the  occurrence  took 
place  at  the  island  Melita,  or  Meleda,  in  the  Adriatic  Sea  or 
Gulf  of  Venice.  Thus  Lord  Lindsay  says :  "  This  [Malta]  is 
not  the  Melita  where  St.  Paul  was  shipwrecked."^  Neal 
affirms :  "  I  am  bound  to  express  my  entire  certainty  that 
Melita  is  Meleda."  ^  Coleridge  adds :  "  The  supposition  itself 
is  quite  absurd."  ^ 

All  this,  however,  proves  to  be  the  merest  conjecture,  and 
is  thoroughly  refuted  by  Smith's  work  reporting  the  survey 
and  research  on  all  questions  involved.  His  reasoning  is  too 
copious  for  extraction,  and  too  minute  for  condensation.  His 
conclusions  may  be  sufficiently  indicated  by  brief  citations 
from  the  work.     He  says : 

"  There  is  one  objection  to  the  locality  assigned  by  the  Maltese  tra- 
dition as  the  scene  of  the  shipwreck  which  meets  us  at  the  very  thresh- 
old of  our  inquiry,  and  which  it  is  necessary  to  obviate  in  a  work 
which  aims  at  exhausting  the  subject.  It  is  maintained  by  Giorgi, 
Bryant,  Falconer,  and  others,  that  it  did  not  take  place  at  Malta  at 
all,  but  at  Meleda,  in  the  Gulf  of  Venice,  an  island  which  was  anciently 
known  by  the  same  name  as  Malta,  namely,  Melita.  But  for  the  above- 
mentioned  reasons  I  should  have  been  much  inclined  to  have  noticed 
this  objection  very  briefly,  thinking,  with  Joseph  Scaliger,  that  it  would 
not  deserve  to  be  confuted  if  it  had  not  had  supporters.  But  when  I 
find  it  adopted  by  modern  commentators  and  biographers,  ...  I 
feel  called  upon  to  subject  the  arguments  by  which  it  is  supported  to  a 
minute  and  sifting  examination."^^ 

"  The  progress  of  the  nan-ative  has  brought  us  to  the  question  whether 
the  traditional  locality  is  in  reality  that  of  the  shipwreck.  Now,  if  we 
attend  minutely  to  the  narrative,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  number  of  con- 
ditions required  to  be  fulfilled,  in  order  to  make  any  locality  agi'ee  with 
it,  are  so  numerous  as  to  render  it  morally  impossible  to  suppose  that 
the  agreement  which  we  find  here  is  the  effect  of  chance."  ^ 

Conybeare  and  Howson  say:  "  This  therefore  is  the  place  for  sum- 
ming up  the  evidence  which  has  been  gi-adually  accumulating  in  proof 
that  it  was  the  modern  Malta.  We  have  already  seen  the  almost  irre- 
sistible inference  which  follows  from  the  consideration  of  the  direction 
and  rate  of  drift  since  the  vessel  was  laid-to  under  the  lee  of  Clauda. 
But  we  shall  find  that  every  succeeding  indication  not  only  tends  to 
bring  to  the  shore    of  this  island,  but  to  the  very  bay  (the  Gala  di  San 

9<  Letters,  1, 19.  «5  Notices  of  Dalmatia,  «6  Table  Talks,  185. 

^T  Introd,  to  "  Voyage,"  xxx-xxxii.  98  /&,  pp.  127, 128. 


578         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

Paolo),  which  has   always  been    the  traditional  scene  of  the   wreck." '^ 

M.  R6nan   says:     "They  soon  learned  that   they  were  on  the  island  of 

Malta."  ^'"'    "The  Gala  di  San  Paolo  at  Malta  corresponds  well   to   the 

Acts."i»i 

lY. 

"  Now  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  place  were  lands  belonging  to  the 
chief  man  of  the  island  named  Publius,  who  received  us  and  entertained 
us  three  days  courteously."  ^'^'^ 

"The  chief  man  of  the  island"**^  may  mean  the  principal 
personage  of  Maltese  society,  it  may  mean  distinctively  an 
official  title,  or  it  may  refer  to  one  who  possessed  both  claims. 
It  is  the  natural  sense  that  Luke  meant  the  official  title.  Two 
inscriptions  have  been  discovered  in  Malta,  one  written  in 
Greek,  the  other  in  Latin,  and  in  both  the  term  is  of  the  same 
import,  and  is  an  official  title  applied  to  a  Roman  knight.  He 
was  called  '■''  P7'imate  of  the  Maltesey^'^ 

"  But  when  Paul  had  gathered  a  bundle  of  sticks  and  laid  them  on 
the  fire,  a  viper  came  out  by  reason  of  th  j  heat  and  fastened  on  his  hand. 
And  when  the  barbarians  saw  the  creature  hanging  on  his  hand,  they  said 
one  to  another:  No  doubt  this  man  is  a  murderer,  whom  though  he  has 
escaped  the  sea,  yet  Justice  hath  not  suffered  to  live.  Howbeit,  he  shook 
off  the  creature  into  the  fire  and  took  no  harm,  .  .  .  [when]  they 
said  that  he  was  a  god."  '°^ 

Coleridge  again  adventures  a  conjectural  opinion  when  he 
says:     "Now,  in  our  Malta  there  are,  I  may  say,  no  snakes  at 

all!  "106 

The  assertion  of  the  merest  speculative  conclusion  is  some- 
thing very  different  from  the  assertion  of  a  well-ascertained 
fact.  It  is  an  error  to  say  there  are  no  serpents  in  Malta ;  and 
if  there  were  none,  it  would  not  prove  that  there  were  not  any 
in  Paul's  time.  Luke  distinctly  designates  the  viper, ^^  which 
is  a  venomous  reptile.     The  following  citations  were  written 

99  Life  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  il,  421.  i""  Saint  Paul,  323.  id  lb.  421, 18. 

los^lci.v  xxviii,  7. 

103  IIpcDTO?-  T^g-  v^ffov  •  comp.  Mark  vi,  21;  Acts,  xill,  50;  xxvlll,  7. 

104  npwTOf  MeXiraioji' ;  and  In  Latin  '■'■MeLPrimux,''''  "T''o.va(/<',"  150, 151 ;  Lewln's 
Life  and  Epis.  of  Paul,  11,  208,  209. 

106  Acts  xxviii,  3-fi.  \f»  Table  Talk,  \x.^i.  '"""ExiSKa,  «  Viper. 


Pajl's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.    579 


by  two  different  parties  who  visited  the  island  for  the  purpose 
of  critical  observations,  and  will  prove  very  evidential  on  the 
points  questioned.  The  writers  are  of  the  highest  authority, 
who  traversed  the  entire  region  and  made  thorough  investiga- 
tions.    Thomas  Lewin,  Esq.,  remarks : 

"  It  has  been  objected  to  this  account  [of  Luke] :  1.  That  there  is  no 
wood  in  Malta,  except  at  Bosquetta;  and,  2.  That  there  are  no  vipers  in 
Malta.  How  then,  it  is  said,  could  the  apostle  have  collected  the  sticks, 
and  how  could  a  viper  have  fastened  upon  his  hand?  But  when  I  visited 
the  Bay  of  St.  Paul  in  1851  by  sea,  I  observed  trees  growing  in  the  vicin- 
ity, and  there  were  also  fig-trees  growing  amongst  the  rocks  at  the 
water's  edge  where  the  vessel  was  wrecked.  But  there  is  a  better  ex- 
planation still.  When  I  was  again  at  Malta  in  1853,  I  went  with  two 
companions  to  the  Bay  of  St.  Paul  by  land,  and  this  was  the  same  season 
of  the  year  as  when  the  loreck  occurred.  We  now  noticed  on  the  shore 
just  opposite  the  scene  of  the  wreck,  eight  or  nine  stacks  of  small  fagots, 
and  in  the  nearest  stack  I  counted  twenty-five  bundles.  They  consisted  of  a 
kind  of  thorny  heather,  and  had  evidently  been  cut  for  firewood ;  as  we 
strolled  about,  my  companions,  whom  I  had  quitted  to  make  observa- 
tions, put  up  a  viper,  or  a  reptile  having  the  appearance  of  one,  ivhich 
escaped  into  the  btmdles  of  sticks.  It  may  not  have  been  poisonous,  but  it 
was  like  an  adder,  and  was  quite  different  from  the  common  snake. 
One  of  my  fellow-travelers  was  quite  familiar  with  the  difference  be- 
tween snakes  and  adders,  and  could  not  well  be  mistaken.  After  all, 
therefore,  it  may  be  found  that  vipers,  though  rare,  still  exist  at 
Malta."  108 

Admiral  Smith  adds  his  testimony.     He  says: 

"My  lamented  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Landsborough,  in  his  interesting 
excursions  in  Arran  has  repeatedly  noticed  the  gradual  disappearance  of 
the  viper  from  that  island  since  it  has  become  more  frequented.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  there  is  nowhere  a  surface  of  equal  extent,  in  so  artificial  a 
state  as  that  of  Malta  is  at  the  present  day,  and  nowhere  has  the  abo- 
riginal forest  been  more  completely  cleared  ;  but  it  by  no  means  follows 
that  this  was  the  case  when  St.  Luke  wrote.  Indeed,  there  are  tra- 
ditions and  other  indications  of  former  woods  in  the  island.  We  need 
not,  therefore,  be  surprised  that,  with  the  disappearance  of  the  woods, 
the  noxious  reptiles  which  infested  them  should  also  disappear."  ^"9 

It  is  obvious  from  these  facts  that  there  are,  even  in  this 
day,  serpents  in  Malta,  which  is  the  special  thing  denied ;  that 
there  are  yet  fagots  of  wood  gathered  in  bundles  for  burning 

wsLife  and  Epin.  of  Paul,  11,  208.  i'«  Voyage  and  Shipwreck,  148,  149. 


580         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

on  the  very  shores  of  the  shipwreck,  as  in  Paul's  time ;  that  a 
serpent  bearing  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  viper,  and  un- 
like any  other  snake,  took  refuge  in  a  bundle  of  firewood, 
exactly  as  related  in  Luke's  narrative.  These  facts  can  not  be 
ignored.  Nevertheless,  the  burden  of  proof  is  with  the 
objector  by  the  established  rules  of  logic.  It  is  his  part  to 
prove  by  veritable  facts,  and  not  assume  or  assert  without 
proof,  that  there  are  not  now,  and  never  were,  wood  and 
vipers  in  Malta,  the  shipwreck  can  be  shown  to  be  unhis- 
torical.  The  facts  which  remain  to  be  refuted  are  those 
cited  by  these  persons  who  purposely  visited  the  island  to 
make  critical  investigations  on  the  spot,  and  whose  high  au- 
thority can  not  be  set  aside  by  the  merest  conjectural  asser- 
tions, without  facts,  by  those  who  have  never  made  a  personal 
examination  of  the  island,  and  have  no  justifying  reasons  for 
their  disbelief. 

§  399.    The  Harbor  Puteoli  (the  modem  Pozzuoli). 

"After  three  months  we  set  sail  in  a  ship  of  Alexandria  which  had 
wintered  in  the  island,  whose  sign  was  The  Twin  Brothers.  And  touch- 
ing at  Syracuse,  we  tarried  there  three  days.  And  from  thence  we 
made  a  circuit  and  arrived  at  Rhegium ;  and  after  one  day  a  south  wind 
sprang  up,  and  on  the  second  day  we  came  to  Puteoli ;  .  .  .  and  so 
we  came  to  Rome.""" 

The  ancient  harbor  of  Italy  on  the  Mediterranean  where  the 

vessels  from  Alexandria  landed  was  called  by  the  Italians 

Puteoli,  but  the  older  name  given  it  by  the  Romans  was  Di- 

cearclda.  It  is  now  called  Pozzuoli.   Sir  James  Smith  describes 

this  port  thus : 

*'  Puteoli  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  most  sheltered  part  of  the  Bay 
of  Naples.  It  was  the  principal  port  of  Southei'n  Italy,  and  in  particular 
it  was  the  great  emporium  for  the  Alexandrian  wheat-ships.  Seneca,  in 
one  of  his  epistles,  gives  an  interesting  and  graphic  account  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Alexandrian  fleet.  All  ships  entering  the  bay  were 
obliged  to  strike  the  topsails  except  wheat-ships,  which  were  allowed  to 
carry  theirs.  They  could  therefore  be  distinguished  whenever  they 
hove  in  sight.  It  was  the  practice  to  send  forward  fast-sailing  vessels 
to  announce  the  speedy  arrival  of  a  fleet."  '" 

"OActs  xxvUl,  11-14.  1"  Voyayc,  etc.,  153,  154. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  World.   581 

Suetonius  mentions  that  after  the  subjugation  of  the  Jews 
in  Judaea,  Titus  resolved  to  go  to  Rome;  "therefore,  making 
what  haste  he  could  into  Italy,  he  arrived  at  Puteoli,  [and] 
went  to  Rome  with  all  possible  expedition."  ^^  The  late  Pro- 
fessor Renan,  of  Paris,  said:  "Puteoli,  as  we  have  already- 
said,  was  that  port  of  Italy  most  frequented  by  the  Jews.  It 
was  there  in  general  that  ships  from  Alexandria  discharged 
their  cargoes.""^  Josephus,  describing  his  own  shipwreck 
when  journeying  to  Rome  says  that  at  length,  he  came  "  to 
Dicearchia,  which  the  Italians  call  Puteoli  /"  ^^*  that  by  sail,  on 
a  certain  occasion,  Herod  "Agrippa  [I]  was  come  to  Puteoli  ;"  "^ 
and  that  Herod  Antipas  and  the  slave  Fortunatus  '''"both  sailed 
to  Picearchia,^'' ^'^^  in  search  of  the  emperor.  Thus  the  two 
names  given  the  harbor  near  Kaples  were  used  interchange- 
ably, and  it  is  the  same  harbor  where  Paul  and  his  ship's 
company  landed,  and  he  was  met  by  Jewish  brethren,  and 
thence  pursued  his  course  over  the  Appian  Way  through  "the 
Market  of  Appius"  and  "the  Three  Taverns"  to  Rome,  The 
custom  of  sending  forward  "fast-sailing  vessels"  to  discover 
and  announce  the  approach  of  the  grain-ships  from  Alexan- 
dria, accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  brethren  resident  at  Pute- 
oli, and  even  at  Rome,  had  opportunity  to  meet  the  apostle — 
the  one  class  at  the  harbor,  and  the  other  at  the  Three 
Taverns,  which  was  forty-three  miles  south  of  the  Capital. 
The  entire  distance  from  Puteoli  to  Rome  was  about  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  miles;  a  distance  which  Paul  and  Lulie 
traveled  afoot. 

§  400.    Paul  at  Rome  (Italy). 

V. 

"And  when  we  had  entered  into  Rome,  the  centurion  delivered  the 
prisoners  to  the  captain  of  the  Pr?etorian  guard ;  but  Paul  was  suffered 
to  abide  by  himself  with  the  soldier  that  guarded  him."  "^ 

Ulpian  is  referred  to  as  authority  for  the  statement  that 
it  was  the  part  of  the  chief  ruler  of  the  country  under  the  Ro- 
ns Titus,  V.  113  St.  Paul.  324.  n*  Life  of  Josephus,  $3. 
ii5^M<.  xvlli,  6,  3,  4.           »«/&.  xvlll,7.  2.                ii'Acts  xxvlil,  16. 


582         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

mans,  to  determine  whether  an  arrested  person  should  be 
immured  in  prison,  or  should  be  committed  to  the  keeping  of 
a  soldier,  or  should  be  placed  in  charge  of  securities,  or  be  left 
to  take  care  of  himself.""^  It  is  evident,  then,  that  the 
prisoners  of  the  Romans  in  military  custody  could  be  treated 
with  severity  or  lenity,  at  the  discretion  of  the  chief  officer 
of  the  law,  he  taking  into  account  the  previous  character  and 
standing  of  the  prisoner  in  society.  Tacitus  makes  note  of  an 
instance  in  point,  in  the  treatment  of  a  Roman  lady  by  the 
Emperor  Tiberius,  who  "took  the  slaves  of  [Emilia]  Lapida 
from  the  guard  of  the  soldiers,  and  transferred  them  to  the 
consuls ;  nor  did  he  suffer  them  to  be  examined  by   torture."  ^^^ 

When  Herod  Agrippa  (I)  was  young,  pursuing  his  educa- 
tion at  Rome,  for  words  of  indiscretion  spoken  to  his  friend 
young  Caligula  disrespectful  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  Agrippa 
was  imprisoned  for  six  months.  Through  the  influence  of 
Antonia,  Caligula's  grandmother,  it  was  permitted  "  his  freed- 
men  and  friends  to  come  to  him,  and  that  other  things  that 
tended  to  ease  him  might  be  indulged  him."  ^* 

The  case  of  the  apostle  throughout  his  period  of  imprison- 
ment from  Jerusalem  to  Rome  illustrates  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  no  less  the  dignity  and  commanding  character  of  the 
prisoner  than  the  consideration,  and  even  sympathy,  extended 
to  him  as  a  Roman  citizen  who  was  not  charged  with  any 
crime.  It  was  purely  a  question  of  religion  between  Paul  and 
the  Jews,  and  his  being  conducted  in  bonds  to  Rome  was  on 
his  own  "appeal  to  Caesar"  in  order  to  avoid  being  judged  by 
those  who  had  already  formed  a  conspiracy  against  his  life. 
Claudius  Lysias,  the  commandant  of  the  castle  Antonia  at 
Jerusalem,  not  only  showed  him  much  courtesy,  but  in  his 
official  letter  to  the  procurator  at  Caesarea,  he  expressly  states 
that  the  prisoner  was  merely  "accused  of  questions  of  their 
[the  Jews']  law,  but  to  have  nothing  laid  to  his  charge  worthy 

H8  Digest  of  Justinian,  xlvlll,  TituU  3;  De  Ulp.  1 ;  comp.  Acts  xxlv,  23. 
^itAnnals,  HI,  22.  i!"  J^ospp/nts,  Ant.  xvlli,  6,  (j,  7. 


Paul's  Missionary  Journeys  to  the  Gentile  "World.    583 

of  death  or  of  bonds."  ^^  Even  the  conscienceless  Felix  at 
Caesarea  ordered  that  "  he  should  be  kept  in  charge,  and  should 
have  indulgence,  and  not  to  forbid  any  of  his  friends  to  min- 
ister unto  him."  ^  His  successor,  Festus,  after  having  made 
an  occasion  of  much  magnificence,  presented  Paul  to  King 
Herod  Agrippa  II,  before  whom  the  apostle  made  his  pow- 
erful defense,  "Then  said  Agrippa  unto  Festus,  This  man 
might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not  appealed  unto 
C^sar."^ 

When  started  upon  the  voyage  to  Rome,  at  Sidon  the  officer 
in  charge,  "  Julius,  treated  Paul  kindly,  and  gave  him  leave  to 
go  unto  his  friends  and  refresh  himself."  ^^  At  Malta,  the  scene 
of  the  shipwreck,  Luke  narrates  how  "  the  barbarians  showed 
us  no  common  kindness ;  for  they  kindled  a  fire  and  received 
us  all,  because  of  the  present  rain  and  because  of  the  cold."  ^'* 
And  "  the  chief  man  of  the  island,  named  Publius,"  "  received 
us  and  entertained  us  courteously ;"  and  the  people  who  had 
been  miraculously  cured  by  Paul,  "  also  honored  us  with  many 
honors ;  and  when  we  sailed,  they  put  on  board  such  things  as 
we  needed."  ^  Accordingly,  (vhen  we  recall  the  leniency  of 
the  Romans  toward  the  apostle  hitherto,  we  are  prepared  to  un- 
derstand that,  when  Paul  entered  the  capital,  "he  was  suffered 
to  abide  by  himself  with  a  soldier,"  "in  his  own  hired  dwelling, 
and  received  all  who  came  unto  him,  none  forbidding  him"^ 
his  labors  in  the  gospel.  These  facts  reflect  light  upon  the 
apostle's  own  expressions  in  writing  to  brethren  elsewhere 
during  the  continuance  of  his  present  imprisonment  at  Rome : 

"  So  that  my  bonds  became  manifest  throughout  the  whole  prsetoriau 
guard,  and  to  all  the  rest;  and  that  most  of  the  brethren  in  the  Lord, 
being  confident  through  my  bonds,  are  more  abundantly  bold  to  speak 
the  word  of  God  without  fear."^^  "All  the  saints  salute  you,  especially 
they  that  are  of  Caesar's  household."^ 


i«  Acts  xxl,  39,  40;  xxili,  26-30.  122/6.  xxlv,  23. 

123  lb.  XXV,  28-27 ;  xxvl,  32.  124  lb.  xxvil,  8. 

125  lb.  xxvlil,  2.  126  lb.  xxvili,  7-10. 

127  lb.  xxvlil,  16,  30,  31  128  Phil,  i,  13, 14. 
iMib.iv,  22. 


584         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

VI. 

If  the  traditions  are  historical  respecting  the  last  days  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  he  wrote  his  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  by 
a  lighted  taper  when  immured  in  the  Mamertine  prison,  which 
is  near  the  Senate-house,  on  the  Capitoline  Hill  of  Rome.  It 
was  written  after  his  second  trial,  in  which  he  was  condemned 
to  die.  From  the  first  indictment,  which  was  preferred  by 
vicious  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  he  was  exonerated  on  trial.  In 
reference  to  this  occasion  Paul  himself  wrote : 

"Alexander  the  coppersmith  did  me  much  evil;  the  Lord  render 
to  him  according  to  his  works ;  of  whom  be  thou  ware  also,  for  he 
greatly  withstood  our  words.  At  my  first  defense,  no  one  took  my  part, 
but  all  forsook  me ;  may  it  not  be  laid  to  their  account.  But  the  Lord 
stood  by  me  and  gave  me  power,  that  through  me  the  message  might  be 
fully  proclaimed,  and  that  all  the  Gentiles  might  hear.  And  I  loas  delivered 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  lion."  '^ 

It  has  been  the  constant  tradition  that  upon  his  second 
trial,  instigated  by  persons  from  Ephesus,  Paul  was  condemned 
to  die,  at  some  date  between  66-68  A.  D.  This  was  under  the 
reign  of  Nero.  It  is  said  that  he  was  led  out  through  the 
southern  gate,  which  now  bears  his  name,  into  the  Via 
Ostiensis,  about  two  miles,  to  the  "  Three  Fountains,"  where 
is  a  natural  amphitheater  for  the  accommodation  of  the  vulgar 
populace,  who  thronged  the  Christian  prisoner  along  the  way 
to  witness  his  execution.  A  small  church  edifice,  built  in 
1599,  is  said  to  mark  the  spot  where  the  Apostle  Paul  was 
beheaded.     It  is  called  S.  Paolo  alle  Tre  Fontane. 

1302  Tim.  iv,  14-17;  comp.  1  Cor,  xv,  32;  Ignatius,  Epis.  ad  Bom.  c.  v;  and 
Josephus,  Ant.  xvlll,  6, 10. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

VERIFICATION  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 
AS  HISTOEICAL. 

I.  Consideration  op  Some  Points  Preliminary  to  the  Investigation. 

1.  The  First  Three  Centuries  of  the   Christian   Era  the  Old 

Battleground. 

2.  Paul's    First    Four    Epistles    Concededly    Authentic    and 

Credible. 

3.  Reaction  in  Rationalistic  Criticism  on  the  Chronology. 

4.  The  Nativity  of  Christ  as  the  Basis  of  the  Christian  Era. 

II.  Books  of  the  New  Testament  Affirmed  by  Enemies  to  be  His- 
torical. 

1.  The  Witness  of  Julian,  known  as  the  Apostate,  dating  362 

A.  D. 

2.  The  Witness  of  Hierocles,  the  Instigator  of   Persecutions, 

303  A.  D. 

3.  The  Witness  of  Porphyry,  who  wrote  against  Christian  Doc- 

trines, 295. 

4.  The  Witness  of  Lucian,  an  Officer  of  the  Roman   Govern- 

ment, 160. 

5.  The  Witness   of  Celsus,  the   Literary    Champion     of    the 

Enemies,  150. 

6.  The  Witness  of  Tacitus  to  Fundamental  Facts  of  Christian- 

ity, 110. 

7.  The  Witness  of  Josephus  to  the  Life  and  Death  of  Christ, 

103. 

III.  Testimony  op  the  Enemies  Confirmed  by  the  Christian  Writers. 

8.  The  Testimony  of  Origin  of  Alexandria,  254  A.  D 

9.  The  Testimony  o^  Tertullian,  the  Jurisconsult  of  Carthage, 

200  A.  D. 

10.  The  Testimony  of  J7-ena?us,  the  Bishop  of  Lyons,  in  170  A.  D. 

11.  The  Testimony  of  Justin  on  ^'The  Memoirs  of  the  Apostles," 

140  A.  D. 

12.  The  Testimony  of  Papias,   Bishop  of   Hierapolis,   Phrygia 

(uncertain). 

13.  The  Testimony  of  Clement  of  Rome,   Companion   of  Paul, 

64-67  A.  D. 

14.  The  Testimony  of  Barnabas  of  Matthew's  "  Written"  Gospel, 

70  A.  D. 

IV.  Some  Collateral  Evidence  Respecting  the  Books  op  the  New 

Testament. 

1.  The  Titles  Prefixed  to  the  several  Books  of  these  Scriptures. 

2.  The  Quotations  made  from  them  in  Comparison  with  Classic 

Writers. 

3.  A  Table  of  Citations  by  Four  Eminent  Men  from  the  whole 

New  Testament. 

585 


Chapter  XIX. 

VEEIFICATION  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 
AS  HISTORICAL. 

^401.    Sources:    Biographical  Epitomes  of  Witnesses  and  Literature. 

1.  Papias  (b.  about  A.  D.  70),  who  wrote  110-116,  and.  died   about  153, 

was  Bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Plirygia  in  the  first  half  of  the 
second  century.  Irenseus,  mentioning  certain  matters,  says: 
"And  these  things  are  borne  witness  to  in  a  writing  of  Papias, 
the  hearer  of  John,  and  a  companion  of  Polycarp."  {Against  Here- 
sies, V,  c.  33,  4.)  Papias  wrote  a  book  entitled  Explication  of  the 
Lord's  Discourses  (Aoyiwu  KvpiaKwv'E^rjyvo'i-^),  in  which  he  has  re- 
corded many  historical  traditions  which  had  previously  been  pre- 
served in  oral  discourse,  having  been  received  from  the  apostles, 
concerning  our  Lord's  teachings.  This  work  was  extant  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  is  now  lost,  except  some  fragments  pre- 
served in  the  writings  of  Irenseus  and  Eusebius.  Jerome  also 
possessed  the  writings  of  Papias.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  aptly  i-emarks: 
"Papias  proves  the  great  value  which  was  attached  to  the  oral 
traditions  of  the  apostles  and  their  disciples  in  the  second  cen- 
tury. He  stood  on  the  threshold  of  the  new  period,  when  the 
last  witnesses  of  the  Apostolic  Age  were  fast  disappearing,  and 
when  it  seemed  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  gather  the  re- 
maining fragments  of  inspired  wisdom  which  throw  light  on 
the  Loi'd's  teaching,  and  guard  the  Church  against  errors." 
{Hist.  Christian  Church.  II,  696.)  Besides  these  teachings  of  our 
Savior,  unrecorded  in  the  Gospels,  but  transmitted  through  his 
apostles,  Papias  bears  witness  to  the  existence  of  Matthew's  Gos- 
pel, originally  written  in  Hebrew,  to  Mark's  Gospel,  to  the  Book 
of  Acts,  to  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  the  First  Epistle  of  John, 
and  to  the  Apocalypse. 

2.  JoHANN  Wolfgang  Goethe  (1749-1832)  in  youth  was  carefully   edu- 

cated in  the  languages,  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  but 
the  Scriptures  exerted  no  influence  on  his  spirit  and  life.  He 
appears  to  have  been  deficient  in  all  spiritual  impressions.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen  young  Goethe  went  to  the  University  of  Leipsic 
(1768).  He  then  became  a  novelist  and  poet,  as  well  as  a  writer 
of  dramas.      In  1775  he  became  a  member  of  the  court  by  invita- 

587 


588         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tion  of  Charles  Augustus,  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar.  He  occupied 
several  posts  of  honor  in  the  government,  and  finally  became 
Minister  of  State.  Retiring  from  this  position,  he  became  deeply 
interested  in  practical  and  scientific  matters,  studying  vrith  great 
care,  Botany,  Comparative  Anatomy,  Mineralogy,  and  Optics, 
making  some  valuable  discoveries  in  these  directions.  After  his 
marriage  he  was  regarded  as  an  authority  among  his  people,  es- 
pecially in  the  way  of  liberating  the  German  civilization  from 
the  bonds  of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  person  he  was  tall  and  re- 
markably handsome,  reserved,  and  sometimes  haughty  and  even 
arrogant  in  manner,  but  withal,  strangely  attractive  in  social  in- 
tercourse. 

3.  Samuel   Psideaux   Tregelles    (1813-1875)    was    an    Englishman    of 

Quaker  descent,  who  was  well  and  classically  educated.  Studying 
the  Oriental  languages  as  a  life-study,  his  fii-st  production  was  a 
critical  edition  of  the  text  of  the  New  Testament  from  the  most 
ancient  manuscripts  and  versions.  He  occupied  no  little  time  in 
visiting  the  gi-eat  libraries  of  Europe,  making  scholarly  researches 
with  a  view  to  subsequent  productions.  Some  of  the  principal 
works  from  his  pen  are  The  Book  of  Revelation,  in  Connection  with 
the  Old  Testament  (1836),  The  Englishman's  Greek  Concordance  of 
the  New  Testament  (1839),  The  Englishman's  Hebrew  and  Chaldee 
Lexicon  (1843),  The  Greek  New  Testament  (1857-1872),  and  many 
others. 

4.  Andrews  Norton  (1786-1853)  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  graduated  at 

Harvard  University  in  1804.  While  serving  as  tutor  at  Bowdoin, 
he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  Biblical  Criticism  in  1813. 
Upon  the  organization  of  the  Harvard  Divinity  School  (1819),  he 
was  chosen  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature,  which  position  he  re- 
signed in  1830.  In  theology  he  was  a  Unitarian,  and  wrote  works 
of  character  against  infidelity.  His  best  production  was  The  Genu- 
ineness of  the  Gospels  (5  vols.),  the  last  of  which  was  issued 
after  his  death  (1856).     It  is  a  critical  work  of  invaluable  worth. 

5.  Arthur  Penrhtn  Stanley  (1815-1881)  was  a  favorite  student  of  Dr. 

Thomas  Arnold,  of  Rugby  school,  who  took  a  number  of  notable 
prizes  as  an  essayist  at  Oxford,  graduated  at  the  university  college 
in  1838,  and  became  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  at  Ox- 
ford in  1856,  chaplain  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  1854,  and  to 
Queen  Victoria  in  1862.  He  was  also  distinguished  for  his  defense 
of  "  free  thought"  in  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  controversy 
precipitated  by  the  publication  of  Bishop  Colenso's  work  on  the 
Pentateuch.  Some  of  Dean  Stanley's  literary  productions  are  Es- 
says on  the  Apostolic  Age  (1847),  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  with 
Critical  Notes  (2  vols.   1855,  14th   ed.    1876),  Sinai   and  Palestine, 


Verification  of  the  Kew  Testament  as  Historical.     589 

Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  and  A  HUtory  of  the 
Jewish  Church.  He  was  a  member  of  the  British  branch  of  the 
company  who  revised  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 

6.  George  Rawlinson  (b.  1815)  is  brother  of  the  distinguished  Sir 
Henry  0.  Rawlinson,  who  for  many  years  was  president  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society ;  also  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Ar- 
chaeology, in  England.  George  Rawlinson  graduated  at  Trinity 
College,  Oxford,  in  1839;  delivered  the  Bampton  Lectures  in  1859, 
and  in  1861  was  chosen  Professor  of  Ancient  History  at  Oxford. 
He  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  very  valuable  works,  among 
which  may  be  named  The  Five  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Eastern 
World  (4  vols.  1862-1867),  A  Manual  of  Ancient  History  (1869), 
History  of  Egypt  and  Babylon  (1885),  and  Historical  Evidences  of  the 
Truth  of  the  Scripture  Records  (New  York,  1859).  This  last  work 
is  exceedingly  interesting  to  Christians  and  critical  scholars,  as 
directed  against  the  prevailing  disbelief  in  the  truth  and  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  present  day. 

§  402.  The  Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical. 

We  have  no  less  weighty  an  inquiry  before  us  than  this :  Whence  spring 
our  Gospels  ?  for  on  the  origin  of  these  books  hinge  their  trust- 
worthiness and  all  their  value.  .  .  .  With  the  person  of  Jesus, 
Christianity  stands  or  falls. — Tischendorf. 

Christianity  alone  of  all  religions  claims  to  be  founded,  not  on  fancy  or 
feeling,  but  on  Fact  and  Truth. — Stanley. 

I  believe  the  four  Gospels  are  genuine  ;  for  I  see  in  them  an  emanation 
of  that  greatness  which  proceeded  from  the  person  of  Christ,  such 
as  was  never  before  manifested  on  earth. — Goethe. 

The  sayings  of  Jesus,  being  especially  characteristic  of  their  time,  have 
all  the  signs  of  an  exalted  and  reticent  originality,  of  a  Divine 
sanctity  and  force;  [and]  bear  the  stamp  of  a  spirit  of  develop- 
ment which  no  evangelist,  Jew  or  Gentile,  nor  even  Paul  him- 
self, would  have  known  how  to  invent.— Keim. 

I  confess  to  you  that  the  majesty  of  the  Scriptures  strikes  me  with 
admiration,  as  the  purity  of  the  Gospel  has  its  influence  upon 
my  heart.  It  is  more  inconceivable  that  several  men  should  have 
united  to  foi-ge  the  Gospel  than  that  a  single  person  should  have 
furnished  the  Subject  of  it.  The  marks  of  its  truth  are  so  striking 
and  inimitable,  that  the  inventor  would  be  more  astonishing  than 
the  hero. — Rousseau. 

So  great  is  the  certainty  respecting  the  Gospels  that  even  the  heretics 
themselves  testify  to  them,  and  each  one  of  them,  starting  out 
from  these,  endeavors  to  establish  his  own  doctrines. — Iren^us. 
38 


590         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  apprehension  has  grown  into  a  certainty,  that  the  Scriptures  are  the 
Word  of  God,  and  are  of  Divine  authority. — Tregelles. 

ARGUMENT. 

That  the  disciples  of  Christ  wrote  the  four  Gosples  is  a  fact  constantly 
assumed  or  asserted  by  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  especially 
during  the  first  four  centuries.  In  truth,  they  make  that  circum- 
stance their  basis  in  assailing  the  Christian  religion.  This  convic- 
tion is  shared  and  amply  confirmed  by  patristic  testimony.  Some 
learned  extremists  at  first  dated  the  several  books  of  the  Nevjr 
Testament  nearly  through  the  second  Christian  century  ;  but  crit- 
icism has  compelled  a  general  retrocession  in  this  particular.  For 
these  writings,  though  dateless  as  to  modern  methods,  bear  the  col- 
oring of  the  age  and  antiquity  of  their  origin.  For  obvious  reasons 
the  apostolic  writers  omitted  their  signatures  to  the  four  Gospels 
and  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  while  in  contradistinction,  the  Epistles 
bear  the  authenticating  autographs  of  their  several  writers. 
Nevertheless,  so  far  from  causing  doubt  of  the  authorship  by  the 
omission  of  signatures  in  case  of  the  historical  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  in  the  minds  of  contemporaries  and  their  successors, 
foes  and  friends  were  entirely  agreed  in  holding  to  the  apostolicity 
of  these  writings  as  unquestioned  and  unquestionable.  Both 
classes  even  mention  the  names  of  the  respective  writers  as  well 
understood.  Both  held  that  the  sacred  books  were  regarded  by 
Christians  as  of  supreme  authority.  Sometimes  the  Gospels  were 
called  Memoirs  of  Jesus.  By  the  rules  governing  in  cases  of  his- 
torical evidence,  universally  applicable,  these  books  were  kept  and 
found  in  the  proper  custody.  The  numerous  references  to,  and 
citations  from,  their  contents  furnish  a  complete  catena  of  proof, 
extending  from  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  through  whom 
Christianity  became  the  religion  of  the  State,  back  to  the  period 
when  the  New  Testament  writings  were  written  and  published 
first  to  the  world. 

1.  A   Retrocession  made  by  Adverse  Critics  respecting  the 

Dates  of  these  Sacred  Writings. 

2.  The  Main  Facts  of   Christianity    mentioned  in   the  New 

Testament,  attested  by  lOnemies. 

3.  The  Authorship  of  the  Several  Books  ascribed  by  Foes  to 

Christ's  own  Disciples. 

4.  Three-fourths  of  all  the  Writers  of   the  New  Testament 

are  expressly  named  by  Foes. 

5.  Reasons  why  Writers  of  the  Historical  Books  omitted  to 

subscribe  their  Signatures. 

6.  Confirmation  of  the  Adversaries'  Testimony  by  that  of  the 

Early  Christian  Writers. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     591 

7.  A  Catena  of  Proofs  extending  from  Constantine  back  to 

the  very  Apostles  of  Jesus. 

8.  The    Authenticity    and    Antiquity   of    these    Scriptures 

attested  by  many  Early  Citations. 

The  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  are  the  old 
battleground  between  Christian  scholarship  and  Destructive 
Criticism   respectino^  the  historical  existence   of 

^  *  8  403.  The 

the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  as  well  as  of  Ancient 
Christianity  itself.  There  is  no  question  made  ^  egroun 
about  the  historicity  of  Christianity  after  its  establishment  as 
the  religion  of  the  State  by  Constantine  in  325  A.  D.  It 
would  be,  therefore,  a  waste  of  labor  and  time  to  prove  what 
no  one  denies.  As  the  discussion  of  this  subject  is  thus  re- 
stricted to  the  first  three  hundred  years,  it  is  proposed  to  estab- 
lish a  chain  of  proofs  extending  from  the  time  of  Constantine 
back  to  the  Apostolic  Age,  beginning  with  the  remotest  period 
from  the  origin  of  the  Christian  religion,  proceeding  upward 
in  chronology  toward  the  apostles  until  we  stand  within  hear- 
ing of  their  original  utterances.  The  investigation  to  ascertain 
the  origin,  the  authenticity,  and  historicity  of  these  Scriptures 
is  limited  to  this  period. 

Meantime,  as  a  point  preliminary  to  the  discussion,  it  is 
especially  worthy  of  note  that  all  living  critics  of  learning  or 
distinction,  of  whatever  school  of  thought,  now 

'  *=  .  '  §404.  Paul's 

fully  admit  that  Paul's  first  four  Epistles —  Four 
namely,  Romans,  the  two  Corinthians,  and  Gala-  ^^^ 
tians — are  truly  authentic,  credible  and  evidential.  Baur  used 
these  very  writings  to  assail  the  harmony  and  faith  of  the 
apostles'  teachings.  Of  the  thirteen  Pauline  Epistles,  Hilgen- 
feld  admits  seven,  and  Renan  nine,  with  Acts  as  genuine  and 
authentic.  Now,  if  the  first  four  Epistles  of  Paul  contain 
such  evidential  worth  as  claimed  by  Baur  in  his  assault,  they 
certainly  are  of  equal  value  evidentially  on  the  Christian  side, 
for  the  defense.  These  Epistles  were  written  A.  D.  54-58. 
That  is,  they  date  within  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  Christ's 


592  IIisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

crucifixion.  During  tliis  period  nearly  all  the  twelve  apostles 
were  still  living,  and  were  accessible  to  Paul,  from  whom  he 
would  easily  and  naturally  learn  any  great  facts  of  the  per- 
sonal life  and  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.^  Paul's  conversion  is 
generally  placed  in  A.  D.  37.  Just  before  Baur's  death  in 
1860,  Ije  confessed  that  the  apostle's  conversion  was  to  him 
an  insolvable  mystery — "amounting  to  a  miracle." 

What,  then,  is  the  gain  to  Christian  evidence  by  the  univer- 
sal concession  of  the  first  four  Pauline  Epistles  Avhose  contents 
are  held  to  be  authentic  and  historical  by  extreme  critics  ?  Dr. 
Philip  Schaff  thus  briefly  summarizes  the  conceded  facts :  * 

"The  leading  facts  in  the  life  of  Chi'ist:  his  Divine  mission  ;i  his 
birth  from  a  woman ;  ^  of  the  royal  house  of  David  ;  •''  his  holy  life  and 
example;^  his  betrayal,^  passion,  and  death  for  the  sins  of  the  world  ;^ 
his  resurrection  on  the  third  day ; '  his  repeated  manifestations  to  his 
disciples^  [and  others] ;  his  ascension  and  exaltation  to  the  right  hand 
of  God,^  whence  he  will  return  to  judge  mankind ;  i"  the  adoration  of 
Christ  as  Messiah,"  the  Lord  and  Savior  from  sin;^^  ^^g  eternal  Son 
of  God;^''  also  the  election  of  the  Twelve  ,^^  the  institution  of  Baptism  ,i* 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  ;i*^  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ^^  the  founding 
of  the  Church. ^^  Among  other  facts  may  be  added  the  account  of  Paul's 
conversion  and  call  to  his  apostleship  by  the  personal  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  ^^  the  knowledge  we  have  of  miracles  wrought  by  the  apostles 
especially  by  Paul;^"  and  the  early  controversy  in  the  Church  between 
the  Judaizers  from  Jerusalem  and  the  Christians  of  Antioch  in  Syria."  ^* 

A  wonderful  reaction  and  retrocession  in  the  chronology  of 
the  New  Testament  is  to  be  noted  among  the  extreme  critics 

*Hist.  of  Christian  Church,  vol.  i,  213,  and  following. 

iGal.lv,  4,  5.  2J6.lv,  4.  3Rom.  1,  3. 

4  76.  xl,  16;  1  Cor.  xl,  1 ;  2  Cor.  v,  21.  b  i  Cor.  xi,  23. 

8Rom.  V,  8-21;  vUl,  3;  xiv,  15;  ICor.  1,  23;  11,2;  v,  7;  xv,  3;  2  Oor.  v,  21;  Gal,i,  4; 
Hi,  13;  Iv,  4-6;  vl,  14. 

n  Cor.  XV,  4,  20;  Rom.  1,  3;  iv,  24,  25;  vl,  4,  9;  vlU,  11;  x,  7,  9;  ICor.  vl,  14; 
Gal.  1, 1. 

81  Oor.  XV,  4-8;  45-49.  'Rom.  x,  6;  vlil,  34;  1  Cor.  xv,  47. 

10  Rom.  1,32;   11,2,16.  uRom.  Ix,  5;  xl,36;  Gal.  1,  3-,''). 

12 Rom.  1,  16;  vl,  10;  vlll,  8;  1  Oor.  11,  8;  xv,  3;  2  Cor.  v,  14, 15,  21;  Gal.  HI,  19; 
iv,  4,  5. 

i»Rom.  1,  3,  4;  vlii,  3;  ix,5;  Gal. 11, 20;  Iv,  4.  i<lCor.xv,5;  Gal.  i,  19. 

i6Rom.  vl,  3-10;  1  Oor.  1,  13, 14, 16;   xll,18;  Gal.  ill,  27. 

161  Oor.  X,  16;  xl,  2;i-26. 

"  Rom.  vlil,  9, 14;  xl,  18;  xv,  19;  1  Cor.  11, 10, 12,  14;  2  Cor.  1,  22;  ill,  8, 17, 

"ICor.  Ill,  11.  "Gal.i,  1, 15, 16,  18;  11,  1-11;  1  Oor.  Ix,  1;  xv,8. 

20 Rom.  XV,  18, 19;  1  Cor.  11,  4;  ix,  2;  2  Cor.  xli,  12. 

21  Gal.  ii,  21 ;  v,  2-4:  cf.  Acts  xv. 


Verification  of  the  Kew  Testament  as  Historical.     593 

of  the  negative  school.  Frederick  Christian  Baur,  head  of  the 
Tiibingen  wing,  at  first  dated  the  origin  of  John's  Gospel  at 
A.  D.  170;  Hilgenfeld,  at  140;  Keim,  at  130;  „^^^  ^       . 

'  ^  '  '  '  '   §405.  Reaction 

Kenan,  at  1 1 7-138.     Some  extremists  have  mod-  in 

•  x!     1    ii     •  •  J  1  -J.-    •       1         Criticism. 

ined  their  own  views,  and  some  have  criticised 
others  as  holding  positions  which  were  fictitious,  uncritical,  and 
untenable,  especially  those  of  the  Tiibingen  school  of  criticism. 
Among  the  correcting  critics  are  Pfleiderer,  Kitschl,  Iloltz- 
mann,  Lipsius,  and  particularly  Weizsacker,  Keuss,  and  Keim. 
Hilgenfeld  affirms  that  "it  can  not  be  denied  that  Baur  went 
beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation."  Schenkel,  after  investiga- 
tion, says  that  he  is  forced  to  the  conviction  that  "  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  is  a  more  worthy  source  of  information  than  is 
commonly  allowed  on  the  part  of  modern  criticism."  Ewald 
defends  Acts  and  the  Fourth  Gospel  against  Baur.  Keim  crit- 
icises Baur's  views  of  the  antagonism  between  Paul  and  Peter 
as  untenable.  Holtzmann  is  said  to  have  placed  the  chronol- 
ogy of  the  Gospels  within  the  period  of  the  Apostolic  Age,  and 
confessed  that  he  knew  no  good  reason  why  they  should  not 
be  accorded  the  dates  commonly  accepted  (A.  D.  55,  56). 
Harnack  does  not  hesitate  to  place  the  Gospels  %vithin  the 
lifetime  of  the  apostles.  "  Strauss,  who  in  his  first  Zehen  Jesu 
(1835)  had  represented  the  Gospel  history  as  an  innocent  and 
unconscious  myth  or  poem  of  the  religious  imagination  of  the 
second  generation  of  Christians,  but  in  his  second  Leben  Jesu 
(1864)  somewhat  modified  his  views,  at  last  (1873)  gave  up  the 
whole  as  a  bad  job."  Matthew  Arnold,  "one  of  the  boldest 
and  broadest  of  the  broad-school  divines  and  critics,"  regarded 
Baur  as  "an  unsafe  guide,"  and  held  that  the  discourses  of 
John  were  "the  sublimest  of  all  human  compositions,  full  of 
heavenly  glories."  * 

In  this  preliminary  statement,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  supreme  fact  that  gave 
origin  and  authenticity  to  the  Christian  era.     It  so  happened 

*  Bee  Schaff,  Hist.  Christ.  Church,  1,  209-217. 


594         Historical  Evidence  of  the  Kew  Testament. 

in  the  sixth  century  a  learned  monk,  named  Dionysius  Ex- 
iguus,  endeavored  to  ascertain  by  calculation  the  exact  year 
o^^«  .y,-^   ^    .    s-nd  day  when  Jesus  was  born  at  Bethlehem. 

§406.  The  Basis  -^ 

of  the  He  did  not  originate  the  era,  but  reckoned  its 

■  chronology.  The  result  of  his  studies  was  not 
exact,  but  closely  approximate,  and  perhaps  the  best  that  could 
be  done  with  the  data  at  his  command ;  for  his  induction  was 
necessarily  based  upon  general  and  indefinite  terms.  He  was 
entirely  successful  in  making  clear  and  certain  the  fact  of 
Christ's  birth,  but  not  the  exact  date.  It  was  the  usage  of 
ancient  historians  to  record  important  events  as  occurring 
within  a  certain  ^^eriod  of  time,  as  within  the  reign  of  a  given 
emperor  or  ruler,  which,  for  authenticating  time,  answered  all 
the  demands  of  the  ancient  peoples.  While  the  year  of  the 
nativity  can  not  be  ascertained  with  absolute  certitude,  the 
general  consensus  of  the  scholars  who  have  made  the  most 
careful  investigation  is  to  the  effect  that  our  present  current 
chronology  begins  the  Christian  era  about  four  years  too  late. 
It  is  however  quite  impossible  practically  to  make  the  desired 
correction,  since  all  the  nations  of  Christendom  have  adopted 
the  present  chronology,  and  for  so  many  centuries  it  has  given 
date  to  all  legal  documents,  institutions,  and  history.  For 
every  man  of  business  now  places  the  date  of  the  day,  mon,th, 
and  year  upon  all  documents  to  give  them  authentic  form  and 
legal  effect,  as  all  banks  and  business  houses  daily  attest  by 
their  books.  But  in  this  careful  chronological  notation,  every 
business  man  recognizes  and  certifies  to  the  historical  exist- 
ence of  Jesus  Christ  who  furnished  the  origin  and  foundation 
to  the  Christian  era;  for  it  was  the  fact  and  force  of  his  char- 
acter that  swept  away  the  more  ancient  chronologies  of  the 
nations  wherever  Christianity  has  gone  and  obtained  a  foot- 
hold. It  is  the  introduction  of  a  new  order  and  course,  a  new 
departure  in  the  world's  history.  It  is  the  historical  life  of 
our  Lord  which  gave,  also  occasion  and  origin  to  the  four  Gos- 
pels: and  all  the  Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse  of  the  New 


Yekification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     595 

Testament  are  based  upon  that  fact.  If  his  Nativity  could  be 
proved  to  be  a  fiction,  these  Scriptures  would  be  bankrupted 
of  all  their  wealth  of  truth  and  significance. 

Pkoofs  that  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  are 

Historical.  ~\ 

It  should  be  carefully  remarked  in  the  outset  that  neither 
Tacitus  who  lived  in  the  first  century,  nor  Celsus  of  the  second 
century,  nor  Porphyry  of  the  third  century,  nor 

'  '  -/    .  „     ,         r.  §407.  Afflrmed 

yet  Ilierocles  or  Julian  of  the  fourth  century,  by 

in  any  instance,  denied  the  antiquity  and  apos-  nemies. 

tolicity  of  the  several  books  of  the  New  Testament.  Upon 
the  contrary,  they  distinctly  affirm  these  particulars,  making 
many  references  to  these  writings  as  reliable,  and  somotimes 
even  correctly  mention  the  author's  names.  And  what  is  the 
more  remarkable  is  the  circumstance,  that  while  thus  recog- 
nizing the  authorship  of  the  Evangelists  and  apostles  in  the 
Gospels  and  Epistles,  in  no  instance  did  these  adversaries  of 
Christianity  make  a  citation  from  any  book  of  the  AjpoGryphal 
or  spurious  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  being  authorita- 
tive either  for  themselves  or  for  the  Christians.  That  is,  these 
adversaries  themselves  discriminated  between  the  apostolic 
and  the  spurious  writings  which  arose  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  Christian  century. 

What,  then,  had  these  enemies  of  the  Christian  religion  to 
say  respecting  the  historicity  of  these  books  of  Scripture,  of 
which  they  made  so  much  ?  Let  us  begin  with  a  Koman  Em- 
peror of  the  fourth  century,  whose  testimony  will  serve  as  a 
connecting  linh  in  the  chain  of  evidence  extending  from  the 
Christianity  which  is  acknowledged  to  be  historical,  back  to 
the  life  and  labors  of  the  apostles.     I  refer  to — 

1.  Julian,  known  as  "the  Apostate"  (b.  A.  D.  331),  who 
assumed  the  purple  and  the  crown  in  the  year  361.  That  this 
emperor  was  an  enemy  of  Christianity  can  not  be  denied,  as 
his  literary  works,  his  edicts,  letters,  and  orations  abundantly 


L/ 


596         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

prove.  He  was  pleased  to  call  Jesus  "the  Galilean,"  and 
Christians  "the  Galileans."  Having  deposed  the  Christian 
bishop,  Athanasius,  he  banished  him  from  Egypt ;  whereupon 
the  Christians,  in  the  name  of  the  city  of  Alexandria,  peti- 
tioned Julian  for  the  bishop's  return  and  restoration  to  ofl&ce. 
This  was  his  reply : 

"  By  the  gods,  ye  men  of  Alexandria,  I  am  ashamed  that  any  Alex- 
andrian should  acknowledge  himself  a  Galilean.  Alexander,  the  Ptol- 
emies, and  other  princes,  their  founders  and  patrons,  were  worshipers  of 
the  gods,  and  had  not  raised  their  constitution  to  its  grandeur  by  the 
words  of  Jesus,  nor  by  the  doctrine  of  the  hateful  Galileans."  "  By  the 
madness  of  the  Galileans,  all  things  ai-e  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin  ; 
and  now  we  are  all  safe  by  the  goodness  of  the  gods."  "  Forbear  to  con- 
verse with  servants,  children,  and  wives  of  the  Galileans,  who  are  impi- 
ous towards  the  gods,  and  prefer  impiety  to  religion."  "  We  ought  to 
pity  rather  than  hate  men  who  suffer  the  greatest  calamity ;  for  indeed 
true  religion  [idolatry]  is  the  greatest  good,  and,  on  the  contrary,  impi- 
ety is  the  greatest  of  evils ;  which  calamity  they  bring  upon  themselves, 
who,  forsaking  the  immortal  gods,  betake  themselves  to  dead  men."-'^ 

About  A.  D.  362,  Julian  witnessed  to  the  account  of  certain 
facts  as  being  authentic,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  history  of 
Jesus  and  his  apostles :  The  birth  of  Christ ;  its  connection  with 
the  enrollment  of  Cyrenius ;  his  incarnation ;  the  miracles  of 
Jesus  and  Paul ;  the  Four  Gospels,  whose  authors  are  named ; 
Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans ;  both  Epistles 
to  the  Corinthians ;  that  to  the  Galatians,  and  the  First  Epistle 
of  Peter.  That  is,  he  cites  the  foregoing  facts,  perverting  the 
most  of  them ;  but  he  actually  names  five  of  the  seven  or 
eight  authors  of  the  New  Testament.  The  following  citations 
Avill  sufficiently  prove,  not  only  the  existence  of  the  sacred 
books  in  the  time  of  Julian,  but  also  the  facts  found  in  their 
contents. 

a)  Birth  of  Christ.  "  Jesus  whom  you  celebrate  was  one  of  Caesar's 
subjects.  If  you  dispute  it,  I  will  prove  it.  .  .  .  For  yourselves 
allow  that  he  was  enrolled  with  his  father  and  mother  in  the  time  of 
Cyrenius."  "But  Jesus  having  persuaded  a  few  among  you,  and  those 
the    worst   of    men,    has   now   been   celebrated  about  three   hundred 

22 cited  from  the  orighial  In  Lardner's  Works,  vU,  643,  596,  645,  651. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     597 

years."  ^  This  testimony  witnesses,  (1)  To  the  antiquity  of  the  Nativ- 
ity; (2)  Places  the  event  within  the  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar;  (3)  Con- 
nects Christ's  birth  with  the  first  enrollment  of  Cyrenius,  which  is  now 
shown  to  have  occurred  B.  0.  4;  (4)  And  finally,  that  what  he  says,  the 
Christians  themselves  maintain;  but  if  they  dispute  it,  he  will  prove 
it — presumably  by  their  own  sacred  books,  which  he  obviously  had  in  his 
possession,  and  from  which  he  makes  not  a  few  citations,  as  will  be  seen. 
/3)  Christ's  Incarnation.  Julian  adds  respecting  the  Christians: 
"They  say  they  agree  with  Isaiah  who  prophesieth,  'Behold  a  Virgin 
shall  conceive  and  shall  bear  a  son.'  "  But  "  she  was  not  a  virgin  who 
was  married.  .  .  .  Grant  [however]  that  this  is  said  of  him  [Jesus], 
does  he  say  that  God  should  be  born  of  a  virgin?  But  they  are  contin- 
ually calling  Mary  the  Mother  of  God."  "  Neither  is  he  of  Judah ;  and 
how  should  he  be  when,  according  to  you,  he  was  not  born  of  Joseph, 
but  of  the  Holy  Ghost."*'*  "When  you  reckon  up  the  genealogy  of 
Joseph,  you  carry  it  up  to  Judah  ;  but  you  have  not  been  able  to  contrive 
this  dexterously  ;  for  Matthew  and  Luke  have  been  shown  to  differ  with 
one  another  about  the  genealogy."  ^^ 

The  interesting  question  here  is,  How  did  Julian  know 
-what  Matthew  and  Luke  say  about  the  genealogy  of  Jesus 
or  Joseph,  and  how  did  he  know  that  they  diflfered  from 
each  other,  and  that  both  continued  the  line  back  to  Judah, 
unless  those  Gospels  were  in  existence  and  were  at  that  time  in 
Julianas  possession  f  It  is  true  that  the  two  genealogical  tables 
do  differ;  and  it  was  intentional,  for  different  purposes. 
Matthew,  writing  for  the  Jews,  cites  the  Jewish  Scriptures  to 
prove  their  predictions  of  the  Messiah  fulfilled  in  Christ,  and 
accordingly  must  trace  his  descent  along  the  7'oyal  line,  from 
David  down.  On  the  other  hand,  Luke,  writing  for  the  Gen- 
tiles, omitted  the  Jewish  argument,  and  showed  his  natural 
descent,  in  that  he  was  the  Redeemer  of  all  mankind.  Each 
one,  therefore,  conducted  his  special  argument  for  the  instruc- 
tion and  persuasion  of  those  for  whom  he  specially  wrote. 

7)  Books  of  the  Nexo  Testament.  "  For  neither  Paul,  Matthew,  Mark, 
nor  Luke  has  dared  to  call  Jesus  God.  But  honest  John,  understanding 
that  a  great  multitude  of  men  in  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Italy  were 
seized  with  this  distemper,  and  hearing  likewise,  as  I  suppose,  that  the 
tombs  of  Peter  and  Paul  were  respected  and   frequented,     ...     he 

=3  LardneVs  Works,  vU,  626,  627.  24  /ft.  629,  625. 

25  Ih.  025 ;  comp.  Matt.  1,  18,  20 ;  Luke  1,  a5. 


598         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

then  presumed  to  advance  that  doctrine." ^^  "  How,  then,  is  Jesus  said 
in  the  Gospels  to  command,  '  Go  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost?'  "^  "  When 
a  certain  disciple  said.  Lord,  suffer  me  to  go  and  bury  my  father,  he 
answered:    Follow  thou  me,  and  let  the  dead  bury  their  dead."  ^ 

Here  Julian  mentions  "  the  Gospels,^''  as  such,  cites  several 
passages  from  them,  and  names  properly  five  of  the  seven  or 
eight  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  He  also  argues  from 
the  passages  which  he  quotes.  To  find  these  Scriptures  in  the 
hands  of  enemies  who  have  studied  and  become  familiar  with 
them,  and  argued  from  them,  implies  that  the  antiquity, 
authorship,  as  well  as  the  historical  existence  of  these  writings 
are  acknowledged  by  such  adversaries.  But  no  spurious  writing 
known  as  "apocryphal,"  which  appeared  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century,  is  cited  as  authoritative. 

Julian  next  refers  to  an  early  Christian  movement  in  their 
care  of  the  poor,  which  is  recorded  in  Acts :  ^ 

"  It  having  so  happened,  as  I  suppose,  that  the  poor  were  neglected 
by  our  priests,  the  impious  Galileans,  observing  this,  have  addicted 
themselves  to  this  kind  of  humanity,  and,  by  the  show  of  such  good 
offices,  have  recommended  the  worst  of  things.  For  beginning  with 
their  love-feasts  and  ministry  of  the  tables,  as  they  call  it — for  not  only 
the  name  but  the  thing  itself  is  common  among  them — they  have  drawn 
away  the  faithful  to  impiety." 

The  emperor  evidences  a  familiar  knowledge  of  at  least  five 
Epistles  of  the  New  Testament.     Thus  he  refers  to  Eomans:^ 

"  Do  you  [Christians]  show  me  some  place  where  that  is  said  which 
is  affirmed  by  Paul  with  so  much  assurance,  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the 
law."  And  again  Julian  asks  the  Christians:  "Why  are  you  not  circum- 
cised ?  To  which  they  answer:  Paul  says.  It  is  the  circumcision  of  the 
heart,  not  that  of  the  flesh." 

First  Corinthians:^^  "They  say  [i.  e.,  the  Christians],  We  can  not 
keep  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  or  the  passover,  because  Christ  has 
once  been  sacrificed  for  us."  "  Be  not  deceived:  neither  idolaters,  nor 
adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind, 
nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  shall  inherit  the 

20  Lardner's  Works,  vll,  628,  629.  2'  2b.  637;  comp.  Matt,  xxvlil,  19, 

«8/6.  637;  comp.  Matt,  vlil,  21,  22;  Lukt"  ix,  59,  60. 
20  Acts  vi,  1-7;  Lard,  vll,  645,  646.  •"  Rom.  x,  4;  Lard,  vll,  638. 

silCor.  v,7;  iard.  vll,  633,634;  1  Cor.  vi,  9-11;  iard.  vil,  634,635;  1  Cor,  vUi,  7-10; 
Lard,  vll,  638. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     599 

kingdom  of  God.  And  you  are  not  ignorant,  brethren,  that  such  were 
you  also.  But  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ."  He  says:  "  You  see  they  were  such  ;  but  they  had  been  sancti- 
fied and  washed,  having  been  cleansed  and  scoured  with  water,  which 
penetrates  even  to  the  soul.  And  baptism,  which  can  not  heal  the  leprosy, 
nor  the  gout,  nor  dysentery,  nor  any  other  distemper  of  the  body,  takes 
away  adulteries,  extortions,  and  all  other  sins  of  the  soul."  "  Why  do 
you  meddle  with  the  Greek  learning,  since  the  reading  of  your  own 
Scriptures  is  sufficient  for  you  ?  And,  indeed,  it  might  be  of  more  im- 
portance to  restrain  men  from  reading  the  Greek  authors  than  from  eat- 
ing things  sacred  to  idols.  For  by  that  also  Paul  says,  '  He  that  eats  is 
not  hurt.  But  the  conscience  of  the  brother  who  sees  it,  is  offended,' 
according  to  you." 

Galatians :  ^  Cyril,  who  reviewed  and  refuted  the  work  of 
Julian  against  the  Christians,  makes  this  notation,  which 
evidences  Julian's  knowledge  of  this  Epistle  : 

"  And  moreover  this  daring  gentleman  reviles  the  chief  of  the  apos- 
tles, Peter,  and  says  he  was  a  hypocrite,  and  was  reproved  by  Paul  for 
living  sometimes  after  the  manner  of  the  Greeks,  and  at  other  times 
after  the  manner  of  the  Jews." 

The  Scriptures  here  collated  are  by  no  means  exhaustive  of 
Julian's  citations  and  references ;  but  they  are  sufficient,  and 
demonstrative  of  the  fact  that  these  writings  existed  pre- 
viously, and  now  were  in  the  hands  alike  of  friends  and  foes 
who  were  familiar  with  their  contents. 

8)  Miracles.  Julian  did  not  deny  the  historicity  of  mira- 
cles, but  he  tried  to  minify  and  disparage  them  as  evidence  of 
Christ's  divine  authority,  by  paralleling  his  works  by  those  of 
the  magicians.^  John  Chrysostom  (347-407),  after  mention- 
ing that  when  Christianity  had  become  established,  in  com- 
parison with  the  beginning,  miracles  were  less  frequent, 
says :  "  Yet  in  our  time,  in  the  reign  of  Julian,  who  surpassed 
all  men  in  impiety  there  were  many  miracles."  ^  Julian 
says  of  Jesus: 

"Who  rebuked  the  winds,  and  walked  on  the  seas,  and  cast  out  de- 
mons, and,  as  you  will  have  it,  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  And 
again:     "  But  Jesus  having  persuaded  a  few  among  you,     .     .     .    h&\- 

^Lardner's  Works,  11,  11, 12,  633.  33  Lard,  vll,  622,  627. 

^Homily  on  Matt.  lv,.$2,  vol.  x.  p.  21 . 


600         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ing  done  nothing  in  his  lifetime  worthy  of  remembrance,  unless  one 
thinks  it  a  mighty  matter  to  .heal  lame  and  blind  people,  and  exorcise 
demoniacs  in  the  villages  of  Bethsaida  and  Bethany."  "  Paul  exceeded 
all  the  jugglers  and  impostors  that  ever  vi'ere."^ 

If,  now,  we  move  upward  in  the  stream  of  time  about  sixty 
years  toward  the  apostles,  we  have  the  testimony  of 

2.  Hierocles,  the  prefect  of  Alexandria,  born  about  A.  D. 
253,  and  ruled  in  Egypt  in  303,  during  the  terrible  persecution 
of  Dioclesian  which  was  ordered  that  year  against  the  Chris- 
tians, of  which  persecution  Hierocles  was  the  chief  instigator. 
^That  he,  in  common  with  other  intelligent  heathen,  was 
familiar  with  these  Christian  Scriptures,  and  knew  that  they 
were  held  in  reverential  authority  by  the  Church,  is  obvious 
from  several  considerations.  One  is,  that  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  heathen  persecution,  the  Christians  were  re- 
quired to  bring  forward  and  burn  in  public  their  sacred  books, 
under  penalty  of  being  burned.  Now,  evidently  they  must 
have  existed  previously,  or  they  could  not  be  burned ;  and  it 
were  foolish  to  suppose  that  the  government  ordered  that  to  he 
hurned  which  did  not  exist!  This  circumstance  in  a  large 
sense  accounts  for  the  fact  that  we  have  now  no  earlier 
manuscripts  of  the  Greek  text  than  A.  D.  325.  Hierocles 
witnesses  to  the  genuineness  of  these  Scriptures  when  he  re- 
fers to  at  least  five  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  He 
seeks  to  disparage  the  writers  of  the  sacred  books,  but  in  no 
Instance  disputes  the  genuineness  or  the  antiquity  of  the  writ- 
ings. Kather,  he  accepts  them  as  being  apostolical,  but 
indulges  in  reviling  the  apostles,  instead  of  refuting  them.  He 
wrote  a  work  entitled  "  To  the  Christians,^''  instead  of  against 
the  Christians.  A  professional  philosopher,  teaching  philoso- 
phy, without  understanding  the  character  of  Christianity,  he 
indulges  in  the  unphilosophical  spirit  in  denouncing  it  as  "a 
superstition,"  as  "foolish,"  "impious,  neglecting  the  deities  by 
whom  the  world  is  governed,"  "  contrary  to  the  established 

88  Lard,  vll,  pp.  627,  622. 


Verification  of  the  I^ew  Testament  as  Historical.     601 

laws,"  "  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  mankind,"  and  "  expos- 
ing men  to  the  displeasure  of  the  gods."^  Lactantius,  who 
refuted  Hierocles's  work,  says: 

"This  writer  endeavors  to  overthrow  Christ's  miracles,  though  he 
does  not  deny  the  truth  of  them ;  he  aims  to  show  that  like  things,  and 
even  greater,  were  done  by  Apollonius.  He  says:  'Christ,  it  seems, 
must  be  reckoned  a  magician,  because  he  did  many  wonderful  things ; 
but  Apollonius  is  more  able,  because,  .  .  .  when  Domitian  would 
have  put  him  to  death,  he  escaped  ['  vanishing  away  at  his  trial  befoi-e 
Domitian  in  the  presence  of  all  the  great  men  of  Rome '  ] ;  '  whereas, 
Christ  was  apprehended  and  crucified.' "''^  Hierocles  says  :  "It  is  also 
reasonable  to  think  that  the  actions  of  Jesus  have  been  magnified  by 
Peter  and  Paul  and  others  like  them  [i.  e.,  the  four  Evangelists] ;  igno- 
rant men,  liars  and  impostors."  ^  "  They  are  continually  crying  up 
Jesus  for  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind  and  other  like  works."  ^ 
"  Christ  must  be  reckoned  a  magician,  because  he  did  many  wonderful 
things."  *°  "  We  do  not  esteem  [Apollonius],  who  did  these  things  as  a 
god,  but  a  man  favored  by  the  gods  ;"  "  whereas  they,  for  the  sake  of  a 
few  tricks,  call  Jesus  God."     "  Jesus  ascended  into  heaven."  *^ 

Huet  is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that  "  Philostratus 
transferred  many  things  from  the  history  of  Christ  into  his 
Life  of  Apollonius,"  ^  the  work  upon  which  Hierocles  founded 
his  writing  assailing  Christianity.      Now  as  to  Hierocles : 

1.  To  criticise  the  writings  of  Peter  and  Paul,  implies  he  had  them 
then  in  his  possession. 

2.  He  does  not  deny  the  genuineness  of  their  writings,  but  rather 
affirms  their  authorship. 

3.  He  seeks  to  disparage  their  good  fame  by  calling  names:  "  igno- 
rant men,  liars,  impostors." 

4.  He  affirms  Christ's  miracles  in  his  "  giving  sight  to  the  blind,  and 
other  such  works." 

5.  He  explains  miracles  by  saying:  "He  must  be  a  magician,  for 
he  did  many  wonderful  tricks." 

6.  He  seems  amazed  at  the  Christians,  "who,  for  the  sake  of  a  few 
tricks,  call  Jesus  God." 

7.  After  all  his  disparagements,  Hierocles  admits   that  "Jesus  as-  ^ 
cended  into  heaven." 

We  are  now  within  the  era  of  the  first  three  hundred  years 
after  the  crucifixion,  and  considerably  less  than  that  after  the 

3"iard.  vli.474.  37  2^.476,512.  88i6. 479.  8»J6. 478. 

» Tb.  476.  « lb.  478,  479,  494         « Tb.  493. 


602  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

writing  of  nearly  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  Most 
of  these  sacred  writers  are  named  and  known;  the  capital 
facts  of  Christ's  history — namely,  the  crucifixion  and  his  as- 
cension into  heaven — are  acknowledged  by  adversaries;  his 
miraculous  powers  are  admitted  in  having  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  blind,  and  other  such  signs  and  wonders.  They  also  note 
with  express  displeasure  that  the  Christians  call  Jesus  God. 
The  next  adverse  witness  is — 

3.  Porphyry,  who  was  born  at  Tyre,  in  Phoenicia,  in  the  year 
233,  and  wrote  about  295.  He  is  named  "Bataneotes"  by 
both  Jerome  and  Chrysostom.''^  He  is  said  to  have  been  a 
schoolfellow  of  the  famous  Christian  scholar,  Origen.^  Socra- 
tes in  his  Ecclesiastical  History  mentions  Porphyry  as  having 
once  been  a  Christian;  but  by  reason  of  having  been  beaten 
by  some  Christians  at  Csesarea,  he  renounced  Christianity, 
and  became  one  of  its  most  ardent  and  noted  enemies.^^  He 
wrote  Against  the  Doctrines  of  the  Christians,^  a  work  in 
fifteen  books,  mere  fragments  of  which  now  remain.  By  the 
imperial  edict  of  Constantine  it  was  consigned  to  the  flames, 
and  his  name  and  fame  made  infamous.  In  a  letter  the  em- 
peror says : 

"As  Arius  has  imitated  the  impious  and  profane,  it  is  but  just  that 
he  should  undergo  the  same  infamy  with  him.  As  therefore  Porphyry, 
that  enemy  of  true  piety,  has  received  a  fit  reward  for  his  impious  writ- 
ings against  religion,  so  that  he  is  made  infamous  to  all  future  times, 
and  covered  with  reproach,  and  his  impious  writings  have  been  de- 
stroyed," *''  etc. 

Theodosius  the  younger,  in  A.  D.  449,  abolished  the  few 
remaining  copies  which  had  escaped  the  fire.''^ 

Porphyry  refers  distinctly  to  Matthew,  Mark,  John,  and 
Acts,  as  well  as  to  several  of  the  Pauline  Epistles.  The  sev- 
eral writers  of  the  Gospels  are  thus  mentioned : 


« iMrd.  vll,  .392.       I*  Mill.,  lb.  393.       « Lib.  ill,  c.  23,  p.  200;  see  Lard,  vll,  392, 393. 

*'  Socrates,  Eccl.  Hist.  1, 1,  c.  ix,  p.  32;  cited  by  Lard,  vll,  395. 
«Zard,  vll,  896. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical,     603 

"Your  Evangelist  Matthew  was  so  ignorant  as  to  say,"  etc.  ;  and 
again  in  the  plural  number:  "The  Evangelists,  the  better  to  impose 
a  miracle  upon  the  ignorant  people,  say:  'Our  Lord  walked  on  the 
sea.'  "•*"  He  cites  John's  Gospel  thus:  "  If  Christ  be  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, the  Truth  and  the  Life,  and  only  those  who  believe  in  him  can  be 
saved,  what  became  of  the  men  who  lived  before  his  coming?" ^^  "If 
the  Son  of  God  be  Word,  he  must  be  either  outward  word,  or  inward 
word.  But  he  is  neither  this  nor  that.  Therefore  he  is  not  the 
Word."  51 

He  also  refers  to  several  incidents  in  Paul's  experience 
Tvhich  are  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  such  as  the  circumcis- 
ion of  Timothy,^  the  apostle's  vow  at  Cenchrea,^  and  his  con- 
duct at  Jerusalem  by  the  advice  of  James,  the  Lord's  brother, 
in  order  to  disarm  certain  Jews  of  their  charges  against  the 
apostle.^  Porphyry  also  cites  the  First  Epistle  to  Corinthians : 
"Unto  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might  gain  the 
Jews."^  He  refers  also  to  two  circumstances  which  Paul  has 
recorded  in  respect  to  his  relations  with  Peter  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians.  The  first  reference  is  to  Paul's  going  to 
Jerusalem  and  conferring  only  with  Peter  and  James.^  Por- 
phyry censures  Paul  for  not  conferring  with  the  other  apostles 
also!  Kef  erring  to  the  disputation  between  Paul  and  Peter 
at  Antioch,  when  Paul  "  withstood  Peter  to  the  face,  because 
he  was  to  be  blamed,"  Porphyry  asserts  that  "  Peter  and  Paul 
had  a  childish  quarrel  with  one  another,  and  that  Paul  burned 
with  envy  at  the  virtues  of  Peter,  and  had  written  in  a  boast- 
ing manner  of  things  which  either  he  never  did,  or,  if  he  did, 
it  was  mere  peevishness  to  blame  that  in  another  which  he 
had  been  guilty  of  himself."  ^^ 

Porphyry  admits  that  the  ajpostles  wrought  miracles.     lie 

says: 

"  Ignorant  and  indigent  men,  because  they  had  nothing,  performed 
some  signs  by  magical  art — which  is  no  great  matter,  for  the  magicians 
in  Egypt,  and  many  others,  have  wrought  signs.    Let  it  be  gi-anted,  as 

«  Lard,  vli,  424,  425.  so  /ft.  439.  si  75.  427,  428, 

52Actsxvi,  1-3.  M76.xvm,  18.  "i  ft.  xxl,  18-24. 

65 1  Cor.  Ix,  20 ;  Lard,  vli,  431.     ^  Gal.  1, 17-19. 
K  lb.  ii.  11-21 ;  comp.  Lard,  vli,  431, 


/ 


604         Historical  Evidence  of  the  ]^ew  Testament. 

you  say,  the  apostles  wrought  signs,  that  they  might  enrich  themselves 
with  the  treasures  of  rich  women  whom  they  had  perverted."^*  "And 
now  people  wonder  that  this  distemper  has  oppressed  the  city  so  many 
years,  ^sculapius  and  the  other  gods  no  longer  conversing  with  men. 
For  since  Jesus  has  been  honored,  none  have  received  any  public  bene- 
fits from  the  gods  !"''9 

This  adversary  of  Christianity  tries  to  criticise  those  who 
interpreted  the  Divine  Word.     He  says : 

"An  example  of  this  absurd  method  may  be  observed  in  a  man 
whom  I  saw  when  I  was  very  young,  who  was  then  in  great  esteem,  and 
is  so  still,  for  the  writings  which  he  has  left  behind  him  ;  I  mean  Origen, 
whose  authority  is  very  great  with  the  teachers  of  this  doctrine.  .  .  . 
But  Origen,  a  Greek,  and  educated  in  the  Greek  sentiment,  went  over  to 
the  barbarian  temerity,^  to  which  he  devoted  himself,  and  corrupted 
.  .  .  the  principles  of  literature  which  he  had  received  ;  as  to  his  life, 
living  a  Christian  and  contrary  to  the  laws."®^ 

To  the  credit  of  Porphyry  it  is  said  that,  whatever  his 
opposition  to  the  apostles  and  the  Christians,  he  invariably 
referred  to  Jesus  Christ  in  terms  of  real  respect.    Colonia  says: 

"  He  makes  the  goddess  Hecate  say,  and  he  acknowledges  himself, 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man  illustrious  for  his  piety,  and  that  he  is  more 
powerful  than  yEsculapius  and  all  the  other  [Greek]  gods."^^  d^.  Dod- 
dridge says:  "  Porphyry  also,  though  an  inveterate  enemy  to  Christian- 
ity, not  only  allowed  there  was  such  a  man  as  Christ,  but  honored  him 
as  a  most  wise  and  pious  man,  translated  into  heaven  as  being  approved  by 
the  gods,  and  accordingly  quotes  some  Oracles  referring  to  his  sufferings 
and  virtues,  with  their  subsequent  rewards."^ 

We  shall  now  advance  upward  to  a  period  within  a  century 
of  the  publication  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
first  witness  for  that  time  is — 

4.  Lucian,  of  Samasota  in  Syria,  born  A.  D.  124.  He  was 
an  important  officer  of  the  Koman  Government  at  Alexandria, 
in  Egypt.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  one  Cronius  respecting  the 
death  of  a  certain  Pereginus,  otherwise  called  Proteus,  who, 


*8  Jerome,  cited  by  Lard.  442. 

*»  Euseb.  ^vangr.  Preparation,  cited  by  7,rtrrt.  437,  488. 

«>Ti  ^dp^apov  i^uKeiXe  T6XjotTj/ua  =  lit.  "drove  headlong  in  the  barbarian  ad- 
venture." 

«  Euseb.  Ecel.  Hist.,  cited  In  Lard.  vU,  397. 
M  Cited  In  Lard,  vll,  445.  «» lb.  446. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     605 

in  the  sixth  decade  of  the  second  century,  immediately  after 
the  celebration  of  the  sacred  Olympic  games,  publicly  burned 
himself  to  death  "  in  the  eyes  of  all  Greece."  Although  he 
represents  Paul  in  terms  of  disrespect,  he  pays  a  tribute  of 
praise  to  Christ  and  the  Christians  generally  of  that  period. 
He  says: 

"  It  is  incredible  what  expedition  they  use  when  any  of  their  friends 
are  known  to  be  in  trouble.  In  a  woi'd,  they  spare  nothing  upon  such  an 
occasion."  "  They  also  have  a  sovereign  contempt  for  the  things  of  this 
world,  and  trust  one  another  with  them  without  any  particular  secu- 
rity." "For  these  miserable  men  have  no  doubt  that  they  shall  be 
immortal,  and  live  foi*ever;  therefore  they  contemn  death,  and  many 
surrender  themselves  to  sufferings."  "They  still  worship  that  great 
man  who  was  crucified  in  Palestine,  because  he  introduced  into  the 
world  this  new  religion."  "  Moreover,  their  first  Lawgiver  taught  them 
that  they  were  all  brethren  when  once  they  have  turned  and  renounced 
the  gods  of  the  Greeks,  and  worship  that  Master  of  theirs  who  was  cru- 
cified, and  engage  to  live  according  to  his  laws."  ^ 

"When  the  Galilean,  half  bald,  long  nosed,  who  traveled  through 
the  air  to  the  third  heaven,  and  there  learned  the  most  extraordinary 
things,  came  to  me,  he  i-enewed  us  by  water.  ...  I  entreat  you, 
.  .  .  though,  with  your  Master,  you  should  be  taken  up  and  admitted 
to  unspeakable  mysteries."  ^ 

The  references  to  the  Scriptures  are  to  Acts,  Corinthians, 
and  apparently  to  other  Pauline  Epistles,  as  Philippians  and 
Titus,  also  to  Hebrews,  and  frequently  to  the  Book  of  Life  in 
Kevelation. 

A  SUMMARY. 

A  summary  may  now  be  given  of  the  points  in  evidence 
furnished  by  the  last  three  adversaries  of  the  Christian  religion. 

1.  Hierocles  affirms  the  miracles  of  Jesus;  admits  that  he 
ascended  into  heaven ;  and  that  the  Christians  in  his  period, 
and  earlier,  were  accustomed  to  deify  Jesus  Christ.  He  also 
acknowledges  the  apostolic  authorship  of  Peter  and  Paul,  of 
Matthew,  Luke,  and  John,  in  respect  to  the  several  Gospels, 
Acts,  and  the  Pauline  Epistle?  to  the  Corinthians  and  the  Ga- 
latians.     Thus  five  of  the  seven  or  eight  writers  of  the  New 

M  Lard,  vll,  280,  279.  « lb.  287. 

39 


606         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Testament  are  named  and  admitted,  as  already  in  his  own 
possession. 

2.  Porphyry  mentions  Christ's  character  and  power  in 
strong  commendation;  acknowledges  that  he  wrought  many 
miracles;  affirms  that  he  was  superior  to  all  the  heathen  gods 
whom  he  worshiped,  and,  finally,  that  Jesus  ascended  into 
heaven.  Referring  to  the  Gospels,  he  expressly  calls  the 
writers  "the  Evangelists,"  cites  directly  from  the  Gospels  of 
Matthew  and  John,  and  makes  specific  references  to  Acts, 
Corinthians,  and  to  Galatians.  Moreover,  he  admits  the 
authorship  of  Peter  and  Paul,  and  acknowledges  the  miracles 
of  the  apostles  after  Christ's  ascension. 

3.  Lucian  states  the  capital  fact  that  Christ  was  crucified 
in  Palestine,  and  the  reason  of  the  fact,  "because  he  intro- 
duced into  the  world  this  new  religion."  He  was  therefore 
recognized  by  adversaries  as  the  Founder  of  Christianity.  He 
also  alludes  to  Paul's  description  of  "a  certain  man"  who  was 
carried  up  to  the  third  heaven  and  heard  things  unspeakable. 
Eeference  is  made  to  Acts,  Corinthians,  possibly  to  Philippians 
and  Titus,  but  particularly  to  Hebrews  and  Revelation. 

4.  So  these  writings  existed  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century  as  authoritative  with  the  Christians,  and  the  several 
incidents  alluded  to  were  known  from  those  Scriptures  by  the 
enemies  of  Christianity.  That  other  writings  of  the  New 
Testament  are  not  mentioned  or  referred  to^  by  no  means  jus- 
tifies the  inference  that  they  were  not  in  existence,  but  rather 
that  the  adversary  writing,  in  his  purpose  had  no  occasion  to 
use  them.  And  of  that,  he  was  the  sole  judge.  No  Chris- 
tian writer,  even,  on  any  occasion  whatever,  is  expected  to 
refer  to,  or  make  citations  from,  all  the  books  of  these  Scrip- 
tures. 

5.  Celsus,  born  about  A.  D.  110,  or  earlier,  and  wrote  about 
150,  was  the  literary  champion  of  those  who  assailed  the 
Christian  religion  in  their  writings.     He  unintentionally  and 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     607 

inadvertently  furnishes  an  invaluable  witness  to  the  sacred 
writings,  as  well  as  their  authorship,  in  his  open  and  active 
hostility  to  Christ  and  Christianity.  For  he  claims  to  have 
made  these  books  of  the  New  Testament  the  exclusive  source 
of  his  information  respecting  Jesus  and  his  doctrines.  Never- 
theless, it  is  said  of  Celsus  that  he  took  counsel  of  the  Jews  of 
his  period,  and  shared  in  their  prejudice  and  hate  of  the 
Christians  and  their  religion.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  in  evi- 
dence throughout  his  work,  Celsus  not  only  assumes,  but  abso- 
lutely affirms  and  reiterates,  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  wrote 
the  four  Gospels  which  he  takes  for  his  exclusive  written  autho7'- 
ity  in  opposition.  This  fact  he  constantly  exploits.  Bishop 
Westcott  justly  remarks : 

"Celsus  quotes  the  writings  of  the  disciples  concerning  his  life  as 
possessing  unquestioned  authority  ;  and  that  these  were  the  four  canon- 
ical Gospels  is  proved  both  by  the  absence  of  all  evidence  to  the  con- 
trary, and  by  the  special  facts  which  he  brings  forward.  And  not  only 
this,  but  both  Celsus  and  Porphyry  appear  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
the  Pauline  Epistles."  ^^ 

From  the  use  which  is  made  by  this  adversary  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  obvious  and  evident  that  these  Scriptures  were  the 
only  books  which  he  relied  upon  as  being  authoritative  with 
the  Christians.  It  is  easy  to  prove  the  identity  of  the  books 
which  he  cites  with  our  own  canonical  Gospels,  by  an  appeal 
to  the  facts  and  doctrines  found  in  their  contents.  For  Celsus 
is  clear  and  express  in  terms,  tracing  the  history  of  Jesus,  en- 
larging upon  the  capital  facts  of  his  life,  such  as  His  Nativity, 
His  Baptism,  His  Ministry,  His  Miracles,  His  Death,  and  His 
Resurrection,  all  in  exact  accordance  with  our  canonical  Gos- 
pels. Lardner  states  that  there  are  no  less  than  eighty  pas- 
sages of  our  Scriptures  alluded  to  and  cited  by  this  disbeliever. 
A  limited  number  of  instances,  illustrative  of  the  whole,  are 
sufficient  to  determine  the  identity  of  our  Gospels  in  contents 
with  those  used  by  this  inveterate  enemy.     Except  in  the  form 

6«  Canon  of  N.  T.,  pp.  404,  405. 


608         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  citations  made  at  a  later  date  than  the  writing  of  the  Gos- 
pels, these  various  facts  are  not  found  in  any  work  in  the  world 
of  literature. 

§408.  Internal  Evidence. 

These  facts  particularized  are : 

1.  That  Jesus  descended  from  the  Jewish  kings. 

2.  That  his  birth  was  of  a  virgin  mother. 

3.  That  he  was  born  in  a  village  in  Judaea. 

4.  That  Joseph  was  suspicious  of  Mary's  chastity. 

5.  That  at  length  Mary  married  the  carpenter. 

6.  That  a  Star  appeared  at  the  time  of  Christ's  birth. 

7.  That  certain  Wise  Men  came  to  do  him  homage. 

8.  That  Herod  slew  young  children  at  Bethlehem. 

9.  That  an  Angel  directed  the  flight  of  the  family. 

10.  That  thereupon  the  family  took  refuge  in  Egypt. 

11.  That  finally  they  returned  to  their  home  in  Nazareth. 

12.  That  Celsus  thence  calls  Jesus  Christ  "a  Nazarene." 

13.  That  subsequently  he  underwent  the  rite  of  baptism. 

14.  That  the  Spirit  then  descended  in  the  form  of  a  dove. 

15.  That  a  Voice  also  was  heard  descending  from  heaven. 

16.  That  Jesus  then  became  known  as  a  public  Teacher. 

17.  That  he  was  Leader  in  the  "  sedition  from  the  Jews." 

18.  That  he  collected  a  number  of  disciples  about  him. 

19.  That  he  healed  the  lame  and  blind,  and  raised  the  dead 

20.  That  he  was  really  betrayed  by  one  of  his  disciples. 

21.  That  he  was  publicly  denied  by  another  disciple. 

22.  That  the  Jews  instigated  Christ's  condemnation. 

23.  That  he  was  robed  in  purple  and  derided  by  men. 

24.  That  he  was  also  crowned  with  thorns  and  mocked. 

25.  That  he  was  offered  gall  and  vinegar  to  drink. 

26.  That  the  death  of  Christ  was  due  to  crucifixion. 

27.  That  his  disciples  at  once  claimed  his  resurrection. 

28.  That  a  preternatural  darkness  prevailed  at  his  death. 

29.  That  Celsus  refers  to  the  earthquake  without  denial. 

30.  That  an  Angel  rolled  away  the  great  stone  at  his  tomb. 

31.  That  Jesus  showed  himself  alive  after  his  resurrection. 

32.  That  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Founder  of  Christianity. 

33.  That  the  disciples  of  Jesus  wrote  his  life  in  the  Gospels,  etc. 

Here  are  no  less  than  thirty-three  important  facts  alluded 
to  in  the  work  of  Celsus  which  he  entitled  A  True  Dis- 
course,^'' as  quoted  by  Origen,  who  refuted  him.     Very  many 


Verification  of  the  Npjw  Testament  as  Historical.     609 

other  instances  of  his  reference  to  the  sacred  books  could  be 

adduced,  if  they  were  called  for.     But  these  substantiate  the 

induction  that  this  adversary  was  using  our  Scriptures,  and 

more  proof  in  that  direction  would  be  redundant.     Nor  did 

Celsus  confine  himself  strictly  to  the  four  Gospels ;  for,  as  Dr. 

Lardner  remarks : 

*'  Celsus  .  .  .  had  read,  as  it  seems,  all  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  when  he  had  done  that,  he  supposed  that  he  need  not 
give  himself  much  trouble  about  any  of  them,  except  the  historical 
books,  particularly  the  Gospels."^ 

It  is  quite  probable  that  Celsus  thought  that  if  he  could 
succeed  in  destroying  the  power  of  Christ's  life,  the  epistolary 
teachings,  which  are  but  expositions  of  that  life,  would  fall 
with  the  Gospels.  At  any  rate.  Professor  Keim  has  succeeded 
in  reconstructing  the  original  work  of  Celsus  against  the 
Christians,  from  the  large  and  exact  citations  which  Origin 
made  in  order  thoroughly  to  answer  him,^^ 

A  few  decisive  cases  must  stand  for  the  many 

•^     §409.  Author- 

which  prove  that  Celsus   assumed,  asserted,  and     ship  of  the 

insisted  that    the  writers  of  the   Gospels  were  no 

others  than  Chrisfs  own  disciples.   This  proves  the  authenticity 

and  antiquity  of  these  writings : 

a)  That  the  disciples  of  Jesus  did  record  the  facts   a/nd 

teachings  of  his  life. 

"  Jesus  with  his  own  voice  expressly  declares,  as  you  yourselves  have 
recorded,  that  there  will  appear  among  others,  [those]  also  who  will  per- 
form miracles."  "  He  distinctly  declares  with  his  own  voice,  as  you 
yourselves  have  recorded,  that  there  will  come  to  you,  even  others  employ- 
ing miracles."™ 

/?)  That  the  disciples  wrote  the  Gospels  to  relieve  Jesus  of 

certain  cKarges. 

"  Tlie  disciples  of  Jesus  wrote  such  accounts  regarding  him  by  way  of 
extenuating  the  charges  which  told  against  him."  ^^ 

7)  That  Celsus  himself  used  these  Boolcs  as  being  unques- 
tionably authoritative. 

68  Lard,  vii,  263,  s^Schaff,  Person  of  Christ,  p.  199,  n. 

'0  Origen  contra  Celsum,  li,  53,  49.  "  lb.  11,  16. 


610         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

"All  these  statements  are  taken  from  your  own  books,  in  addition  to 
which  we  need  no  other  witness  ;  you  fall  by  your  own  swords." '^ 

S)  That  certain  heretics  had  effected  alterations  in  the  text  of 
the  Gospels. 

"  That  certain  of  the  Christian  believei'S,  .  .  .  having  corrupted 
the  Gospels  from  their  original  integrity,  to  a  threefold,  and  fourfold, 
and  many-fold  degree,  and  having  remodeled  it,  so  that  they  might  be 
able  to  answer  objections,"'''^  etc. 

e)  Celsus  claims  that  he  suppressed  some  things  he  knew 
derogatory  of  Jesus. 

"  I  could  say  many  things  concerning  the  affairs  of  Jesus,  and  those 
too  true,  different  from  those  written  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  But  I  pur- 
posely omit  them."^'* 

So  far  Celsus.  This  shrewd  and  keen  antagonist  of  the 
Christians  admits  incontestably,  and  even  directly  ascribes  the 
writing  of  these  books  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  disciples 
of  Christ,  and  to  no  others,  relying  upon  these  writings  as  his 
sole  authority  for  both  friends  and  _foes,  wherewith  to  assail 
the  Christian  religion  and  refute  the  Christians.  There  is  no 
evidence  that  any  person  at  that  time  believed  any  otherwise. 
The  rankest  disbeliever  of  his  period  did  not  attempt  to  dis- 
pute the  authorship  of  these  writings,  which  he  himself  pos- 
sessed, and  had  evidently  studied  with  the  greatest  care. 
Thus  upon  the  witness  of  one  who  was  the  champion  of  the  ene- 
mies of  Christianity y  the  OAitheriticity  and  antiquity  of  tJte  sa- 
cred hooks  are  placed  heyond  recall.  For,  as  remarked  by  the 
famous  Chrysostom:  "Celsas  and  Bataneotes  \i.  e.,  Porphyry] 
are  sufficient  witnesses  to  the  antiquity  of  our  books;  for  I 
presume  they  did  not  oppose  writings  which  had  been  pub- 
lished since  their  own  time."^  They  lived  within  a  century  of 
the  publication  of  these  sacred  books,  and  were  in  a  position 
to  know  what  they  were  writing  about,  quite  as  well  as  one 
living  two  thousand  years  afterwards.  It  is  a  very  remarka- 
ble circumstance  that  after  having  named  about  all  the  main 


"  Origen  contra  Celsum,  11,  74.  "  /ft.  u^  27. 

*Jb.  II,  13,  76Chrys.  Homily  vl,  on  1  Cor. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     611 

facts  which  occurred  in  our  Lord's  life,  from  his  Nativity  to 
his  resurrection,  Celsus  affirms  and  reiterates  these  propositions : 

1.  "Jesus     .     .    .     declares  as  you  yourselves  have  recorded." 

2.  "  The  disciples  of  Jesus  wrote  such  accounts  regarding  him." 

3.  "All  these  statements  are  taken  from  your  own  books." 

4.  "  Certain  .  .  .  Christian  believers  .  .  .  corrupted  the  Gos- 
pels from  their  original  integrity." 

5.  *'/  could  say  many  things  concerning  the  affairs  of  Jesus  .  .  . 
different  from  those  written  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus." 

The  charge  of  Celsus  that  certain  believers  had  corrupted 
the  Gospels  of  their  original  integrity  is  quite  true.  Near  the 
middle  of  the  second  century,  Cerinthus,  Yalentius,  and  Mar- 
cion,  and  others  who  were  denounced  as  heretics  in  conse- 
quence, did  mutilate  these  Scriptures  to  adapt  them  to  their 
own  preconceived  notions  of  how  they  should  read  and  what 
they  should  teach;  and  this  high-handed  procedure  aroused 
the  just  indignation  of  the  Church,  and  called  forth  protests 
and  condemnation  from  Justin  Martyr,  TertuUian,  and  other 
defenders  of  the  faith.  But  all  this  distinctly  proves  that  there 
were  ^^ written  hooks''^  existing  at  that  time  to  corrupt^  and  such 
as  had  ''^ their  original  integrity y''  which  was  liable  to  he  cor- 
rupted. But  not  all  nor  most  of  these  Scriptures,  by  any 
means,  underwent  this  mutilation  and  corruption.  But  the 
uncorrupted  manuscripts  and  versions  which  have  come  down 
to  us  prove  the  identity  of  the  Scriptures  used  by  Celsus  with 
our  own,  by  his  numerous  citations.  This  adversary  makes 
"plain  references  to  Matthew,  Luke,  and  John,  and  probably 
Mark  also ;"  and  he  refers  to  several  of  Paul's  Epistles,  if  not 
to  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  John.^^  And,  without  ex- 
ception, all  these  writings  are  attributed  to  apostolic  writers. 

6.  Tacitus,  born  A.  D.  61  or  earlier,  and  wrote  in  the  first 
decade  of  the  second  century  or  before.  This  man  of  fame  is 
adduced  as  a  witness  respecting  a  single  fact  which  is  funda- 
mental to  the  authenticity  of  these  sacred  books  and  to  the 
whole  system  of  Christianity.    Yery  high  authority  represents 

'«  Dr.  Lardner,  vll,  223,  224. 


612         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Tacitus  as  "  the  famous  Roman  historian  who  ranks  beyond  dis- 
pute in  the  highest  place  among  inen  of  letters  of  all  ages^  who 
lived  in  the  latter  half  of  the  first,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
second,  century  of  our  era."  In  the  reference  which  this  histo- 
rian makes  to  the  great  conflagration  which  nearly  consumed 
all  Rome  in  A.  D.  54,  ordered  by  the  Emperor  Nero,  who  laid  his 
own  crime  upon  the  defenseless  Christians  that  he  might  escape 
the  terrible  indignation  and  vengeance  of  an  infuriated  popu- 
lace, Tacitus  mentions  "the  persons  commonly  called  Chris- 
tians;" and  that  "Christ,  the  Founder  of  that  name  was  put 
to  death  as  a  criminal  by  Pontius  Pilate,  procurator  of  Ju- 
daea, in  the  reign  of  Tiberius^  [Csesar]." 

Respecting  the  character  and  credibility  of  this  brief  par- 
agraph, the  celebrated  author  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  Edward  Gibbon,  one  of  the  worst  enemies  of 
Christianity  in  his  century,  thus  attests : 

"The  most  skeptical  criticism  is  obliged  to  respect  the  truth  of  thisv 
extraordinary  fact,  and  the  integrity  of  this  celebrated  passage  of  Taci- 
tus. The  former  [the  truth]  is  confirmed  by  the  diligent  and  accurate 
Suetonius,  who  mentions  the  punishment  which  Nero  inflicted  on  the 
Christians,  a  sect  of  men  who  had  embraced  '  a  new  and  criminal  super- 
stition.' The  latter  [the  integrity]  may  be  proved  by  the  consent  of  the 
most  ancient  manuscripts ;  by  the  inimitable  character  of  the  style  of 
Tacitus ;  by  his  reputation,  which  guarded  his  text  from  the  interpola- 
tions of  pious  frauds,"  ^^  etc. 

"What  fact  or  facts  attested  by  Tacitus,  and  unqualifiedly 
indorsed  by  Gibbon,  are  here  brought  to  view?    These,  namely: 

1.  The  historical  existence  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  Tacitus  names. 

2.  That  Jesus  was  known  and  named  as  the  Founder  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

3.  That  he  was  supposed  to  have  been  executed  in  the  character  of  a 
criminal. 

4.  That  he  was  put  to  death  by  the  Roman  officer,  Pontius  Pilate. 

5.  That  Pilate  was  at  that  time  the  procurator  of  the  Province  Judnea. 

6.  That  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius. 

7.  That  Christ  had  disciples  in  "  the  persons  commonly  called  Chris- 
tians." 


IT  Annals,  xv,  44.  's  Vol.  I,  p.  602. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     613 

Now,  it  is  perfectly  evident  from  this  testimony  of  Tacitus, 
giving  these  cardinal  facts,  that  the  narrative  of  Christ's 
earthly  life  was  no  myth;  for  all  the  characteristics  of  history 
blend  in  this  one  remarkable  attestation :  the  personal  subject, 
Christ;  his  work,  the  Founder  of  Christianity;  the  peculiarity 
of  his  death,  as  a  criminal;  the  name  of  the  ruler  who  sen- 
tenced him,  Pilate ;  the  character  of  his  Roman  office,  procu- 
rator; the  province  where  it  occurred,  Juda3a;  the  time  when 
he  was  executed,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius ;  the  sect  that  assumed 
Christ's  name,  the  Christians.  These  facts  so  distinctly  stated  by 
this  eminent  Roman  historian  are  perfectly  consistent  with 
each  other,  and  are  in  exact  accord  with  the  statements  given 
in  the  Gospels  respecting  Christ's  death.  And  since  books  which 
narrate  facts  are  declared  to  be  historical,  these  books  of  the 
New  Testament  are  historical.  Tacitus  was  the  contemporary 
of  the  Apostle  John;  so  this  writer  stands  within  the  Apos- 
tolic Age. 

The  testimony  of  the  last  of  the  adverse  witnesses  is  that  of 

7.  Josephus,  the  Jewish   priest  and  historian,  born  near 

the  time  of  the  crucifixion,  in  A.  D.  37.     His  work,  entitled 

Jewish  Antiquities,'^  contains  ten  facts  in  one  paragraph,  all 

which  are  found  in  the  historical  New  Testament.""    He  says: 

"Now  there  was  about  this  time. a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man  ;  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works ;  a  teacher  of  such. as 
receive  the  truth  with  pleasure.  He  drew  over  to  him  both  many  (if  the 
Jews,  and  many  of  the  Gentiles.  He  was  the  Christ.  And  when  Pilate, 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  principal  men  amongst  us,  had  condemned  him 
to  the  cross,  those  that  loved  him  did  not  forsake  him  ;  for  he  appeared 
to  them  alive  again  on  the  third  day,  as  the  divine  prophets  had  foretold 
these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  concerning  him ;  and  the 
sect  of  Christians  so  named  from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day." 

II. 
The  second  line  of  testimony  is  that  of  friends  of  Chris- 
tianity, in  order  to  confirm  the  witness  of  the  enemies  relating 
to  the  historicity  of  the  facts  and  statements  contained  in  the 

*On  genuineness  of  this  paragraph,  see  Excursus  A. 
T»Ant.  B.  xvlil,c.3.  $3. 


614         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

sacred  books  now  under  discussion.     It  will  embrace  three 

classes  of   patristic  evidence;   namely,  ancient 

firmed  by       bishops,  the  ApostoHc  Fathers,  or  disciples  of 

the  apostles,  and  the  Christian  Apologists. 
8.  Origen,  born  at  Alexandria,  A.  D.  185,  and  wrote  by 
or  before  254.      Eusebius,  in  his  ^Ecclesiastical  History,  makes 
the  following  citation  from  Origen : 

a)  "  These  are  the  books  which  he  mentions.  .  .  .  He  attests 
that  he  knows  only  four  Gospels,  .  .  .  which  are  the  only  undisputed 
ones  in  the  whole  Church  throughout  the  world.  The  first  was  written 
according  to  Matthew;  the  same  who  was  once  a  publican,  but  after- 
wai'd  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  having  published  it  for  the  Jew- 
ish converts,  wrote  it  in  Hebrew.  The  second  [Gospel]  is  according  to 
Mark,  who  composed  it  as  Peter  explained  it  to  him.  And  the  third 
[Gospel]  according  to  Luke,  the  Gospel  commended  by  Paul,  which  was 
written  for  the  converts  of  the  Gentiles ;  and,  last  of  all,  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  John."*" 

j8)  The  question  is  critically  asked  :  "Why  did  not  the  sev- 
eral writers  of  the  four  Gospels  add  their  signatures  to  their 
writings  to  substantiate  their  genuineness  and  authenticity? 
The  sufficient  answer  is,  that  these  points  were  substantiated 
in  another  and  better  way.  Chrysostom,  Bishop  of  Constan- 
tinople (347-407),  says: 

"  Moses  did  not  put  his  name  to  the  five  books ;  nor  did  the  histo- 
rians who  wrote  after  him,  prefix  their  names  to  their  writings ;  but 
the  blessed  Paul  everywhere  prefixes  his  name  to  his  Epistles,  except- 
ing to  that  of  the  Hebrews,  where  he  had  reason  to  be  on  his  reserve. 
What  is  the  reason  of  this?  They  [the  Evangelists]  delivered  their 
writings  to  those  who  were  present,  when  it  was  needless  to  put  down  the 
name.  He  [Paul]  sent  his  writings  to  those  who  were  at  a  distance  in 
the  form  of  an  Epistle,  where  the  addition  of  a  name  is  necessary ."  ^^ 

So  direct  and  personal  was  this  method  of  authenticating 
the  apostolicity  of  these  historical  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, that  these  documents  were  regarded  as  incontestable, 
and  therefore  were  never  held  in  dispute  in  the  Church. 

y)  Origen  further  mentions  the  three  Epistles  of  John,  two 

80  Book  vi,  25.  »^Hom.  on  Rom.  B.  9. 


Yerification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     615 

by  Peter,  the  first  of  which  was  undisputed,  but  of  the  second 
Epistle  there  was  some  doubt ;  also  the  Apocalypse,  and  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.     Of  this  last  Epistle  Origen  says : 

"  It  differs  from  Paul's  style  ;  is  writtten  in  purer  Greek  ;"  but  "  the 
ideas  are  admirable,  and  not  inferior  to  any  of  the  books  acknowleged 
to  be  apostolic."  "  But  I  would  say  that  the  thoughts  are  the  apostle's, 
but  the  diction  and  the  phraseology  belong  to  one  who  recorded  what 
the  apostle  said,  as  one  noted  down  what  the  Master  dictated.  But 
who  it  was  that  really  wrote  the  Epistle,  God  only  knows." '^^ 

8)  Obviously,  to  be  able  to  name  the  writer  of  a  given 
document  is  so  far  satisfactory ;  but  it  does  not  prove  that  the 
document  is  inspired  of  God,  or  even  that  its  contents  are 
authentic.  Such  claims  rest  upon  more  solid  grounds  than  a 
writer's  signature.  There  is,  indeed,  no  warrant  for  believing 
that  the  apostles  were  acting  under  that  supernatural  inspira- 
tion known  as  theopneustia^  in  their  daily  life  and  conduct; 
hut  merely  loTien  engaged  in  the  work  of  their  apostolate.^ 
Authorship,  then,  is  one  thing,  and  inspiration  is  another. 
For  the  foregoing  reason,  given  by  Chrysostom,  Paul  took 
special  care  to  authenticate  his  own  writings  to  the  several 
Churches  or  the  individual  addressed.  Some,  if  not  all,  his 
apostolic  Epistles  were  circular  letters ;  a  circumstance  which 
necessitated  the  more  attention  respecting  the  authentic  evi- 
dence of  his  apostolic  authorship.  He  seems  to  have  posited 
his  autograph  and  "token"  with  the  several  Churches  to 
which  he  wrote,  in  order  to  detect  certain  spurious  letters  circu. 
lated  at  that  time,  in  the  names  of  the  apostles.  Hence  he 
wrote  : 

"Paul  an  apostle  .  .  .  unto  the  Churches  of  Galatia."  ^  And 
again:  "When  this  Epistle  is  read  among  you,  cause  it  to  be  read  in  the 
church  of  the  Laodiceans ;  and  that  ye  likewise  read  the  Epistle  from 
Laodicea."  ^  "  The  salutation  of  Paul  with  mine  own  hand,  which  is  the 
token  in  every  Epistle.     So  I  write."  ^ 

8» Euseblus,  £.  H.,  vl,  c.  25.  « gee  Acts  xvl,  7,  9;  xv,  37-39;  Gal.  11, 11-13. 

MGal.i,  2.  86Col.lv,  16. 

»  2  Thess,  ill,  17,  comp.  1  Cor.  xvl,  21 ;  Col.  Iv,  18;  Gal.  vl,  11. 


616         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

c)     The  Muratorian  Canon,  dating  A.  D.  170.     This  docu- 
ment of  recent   discovery   gives    a    peculiarly 
Fourth         interesting  account  of  the  origin  of  John's  Gos- 
pel.    Professor  Brooke  Foss  Westcott,  of  Cam- 
bridge University ,^^  England,  makes  the  following  statement 
respecting  it : 

"  The  fragment  commences  with  the  last  words  of  a  sentence  which 
evidently  referred  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark.  The  Gospel  of  St.  Luke, 
it  is  then  said,  stands  third  in  order  [in  the  Canon],  having  been  wr'itten 
by  Luke  the  physician,  the  companion  of  St.  Paul,  who,  not  being  him- 
self an  eye-witness,  based  his  nari-ative  on  such  information  as  he  could 
obtain,  beginning  from  the  birth  of  John.  The  fourth  place  is  given  to 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  '  a  disciple  of  the  Lord,'  and  the  occasion  of  its 
composition  is  thus  described :  'At  the  entreaties  of  his  fellow-disciples 
and  his  bishops,  John  said:  Fast  with  me  for  three  days  from  this  time, 
and  whatever  shall  be  revealed  to  each  of  us  [whether  it  be  favorable  to 
my  writing  or  not]  let  us  relate  it  to  one  another:  On  the  same  night 
it  was  revealed  to  Andrew,  one  of  the  apostles,  that  John  should  relate 
all  things  in  his  own  name,  aided  by  the  revision  of  all.  .  .  .  What 
wonder  is  it,  then,  that  John  brings  forward  each  detail  with  so  much 
emphasis,  even  in  his  Epistles,  saying  of  himself.  What  we  have  seen  with 
our  eyes,  and  heard  with  our  ears,  and  our  hands  have  handled,  these  things 
have  we  written  to  you.  For  so  he  professes  that  he  was  not  only  an  eye- 
witness, but  a  hearer,  and,  moreover,  an  historian  of  all  the  wonderful 
works  of  the  Lord  in  order.'  " 

The  assistance  rendered  to  John  by  the  other  apostles,  here 
referred  to,  serves  to  explain  a  single  sentence  which  other- 
wise seems  disconnected  and  inexplicable.  It  is  at  the  close 
of  the  Gospel,  and  reads  as  the  indorsement  of  the  revision- 
ists should  read,  respecting  the  authenticity  of  John's  Gospel ; 
namely,  "  This  is  that  disciple  who  testifieth  these  things,  and 
wrote  these  things;  and  we  know  that  his  testimony  is 
true."  88 

Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  who  was  the  disciple  of  Poly- 
carp,  who  was  the  disciple  of  the  Apostle  John,  wrote :  "John 
the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  the  same  that  lay  upon  his  bosom, 
also  published  the  Gospel  while  he  was  yet  at  Ephesus  in 
Asia."  89 

w  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  5th  ed.,  p.  214. 
88  John  xxl,  24.  89  Euseb.  E.  H.  v,  c.  8,  p.  176. 


Yekification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     617 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  wrote  in  the  second  century, 

is  the  authority  for  the  tradition  from  the  apostles : 

"John,  the  last  of  all  [the  Evangelists],  perceiving  that  what  had 
reference  to  the  body  of  our  Savior  was  sufficiently  detailed  [in  the 
other  three  Gospels  which  he  had  i-ead],  and  being  encouraged  by  his 
familiar  friends,  and  urged  by  the  Spirit,  wrote  a  spiritual  Gospel."*' 

To  which  Eusebius  himself  adds:  "But  he  [John]  com- 
menced with  the  doctrine  of  the  Divinity  [of  Christ]  as  the 
part  reserved  for  him  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  for  a  su- 
perior." ^^ 

9.     TertuUian,  of  Carthage,  the  learned  jurisconsult  and 

eminent  defender  of  the  faith,  born  A.  D.  150,  and  flourished 

in  the  close  of  the  second  century,  wrote : 

"  The  Gospel  of  Luke,  which  we  are  defending  [against  the  heretic 
Mareion]  with  all  our  might,  has  stood  its  ground  from  its  very  first 
publication  ;"  "  while  that  which  Mark  published  may  be  affirmed  to  be 
Peter's,  whose  interpreter  Mark  vas.  For  even  Luke's  form  of  the  Gos- 
pel men  usually  ascribe  to  Paul.  And  it  may  well  seem  that  the  works 
which  the  disciples  published, belong  to  their  Masters."  "On  the  whole, 
then,  if  that  is  evidently  the  more  true  which  is  earlier;  if  that  is 
earlier  which  is  from  the  beginning ;  if  that  is  from  the  beginning 
which  has  the  apostles  for  its  authors — then  it  will  certainly  be  quite 
evident  that  that  comes  down  from  the  apostles,  which  has  been  kept  as 
a  sacred  deposit  in  the  Churches  of  the  apostles.  Let  us  see  what  '  milk' 
the  Corinthians  drank  from  Paul ;  to  what  rule  of  '  faith '  the  Galatians 
were  brought  for  correction ;  what  the  Philippians,  the  Thessalonians, 
the  Ephesians  read  by  it ;  what  utterances  also  the  Romans  give  who 
are  nearest  to  us,  to  whom  Peter  and  Paul  conjointly  bequeathed  the 
Gospel,  even  sealed  with  their  blood.  We  have  also  John's  foster 
Churches  [viz.,  the  seven  Churches  of  Asia]."^ 

An  analysis  of  TertuUian's  testimony  written  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  years  after  the  publication  of  the  Gos- 
pels, yields  the  following  facts : 

1.  Even  with  heretics,  Luke's  Gospel  had  an  undisputed  credit 

from  the  beginning. 

2.  Mark's  Gospel  was  considered  as  the  substance  of  Peter's 

preaching  at  Rome. 

3.  The  four  Evangelists  are  correctly  named ;  John  is  identi- 

fied with  "  the  Churches  in  Asia." 

90  Euseb.  E.  H.  vl,  14.  « Ih.  ill,  24.  ^  Against  Mareion,  Iv,  5. 


618         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

4.  Six  Pauline  Epistles,  as  addressed  to  Churches,  are  here 

mentioned  by  TertuUian. 

5.  He  affirms  that  writings  "from  the   beginning  had  the 

apostles  for  their  authors." 

6.  That  these  had   been   "kept  as  a  sacred  deposit  in  the 

Churches  of  the  apostles."* 

10.  Irenaeus,  born  A.  D.  115-125,  was  a  Smyrnean,  who 
was  at  but  one  remove  from  the  instructions  of  the  Apostle 
John.  He  became  Bishop  of  Lyons  in  178.  He  calls  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  "  the  Sacred  Scriptures''''  and  '•''the 
Oracles  of  God^  ^    Then  he  makes  this  attestation : 

'*  We  have  not  received  the  knowledge  of  the  way  of  salvation  by  any 
others  than  from  those  through  whom  the  Gospel  has  come  down  to  us ; 
which  Gospel  they  first  preached,  and  afterward,  by  the  will  of  God, 
transmitted  in  writing,  that  it  might  be  the  foundation  and  pillar  of  our 
faith.  .  .  .  After  our  Lord  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  they  were 
clothed  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  .  .  .  they  went  forth  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  spreading  the  glad  tidings  of  the  blessings  which 
God  conferred  on  us,  announcing  peace  from  heaven  to  men,  having 
all  and  every  one  alike  the  Gospel  of  God. 

"  Matthew  also  issued  a  written  Gospel  among  the  Hebrews  in  their 
own  dialect,  while  Peter  and  Paul  were  preaching  at  Rome,  and  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  Church.  And  after  their  departure  [from  earth], 
Mark,  the  disciple  and  interpreter  of  Peter,  did  also  hand  down  to  us  in 
writing  what  had  been  preached,  by  Peter.  Luke,  also,  the  companion  of 
Paul,  recorded  in  a  book,  the  Gospel  preached  by  Iiim.  Afterwards  John, 
the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  who  also  leaned  upon  his  breast,  did  himself 
publish  a  Gospel,  during  his  residence  in  Asia."^^  "The  Church,  though 
dispersed  throughout  the  earth,  received  from  the  apostles  and  their 

*  Simon  Greenleaf  on  the  Laiv  of  Evidence,  15th  ed.,  Vol.  I,  $  142. 

"Documents  found  in  a  placo  in  which,  and  under  the  care  of  persons  with 
whom,  such  papers  might  naturally  and  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  found,  or  in 
the  possession  of  persons  having  an  Interest  in  them,  are  in  precisely  the  custody 
which  gives  authenticity  to  documents  found  within  it." 

Note.—"  The  rule  stated  in  the  text  is  one  of  the  grounds  on  which  we  Insist 
on  the  genuineness  of  the  books  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  They  are  found  in  the 
proper  custody  or  place,  where  alone  they  ouglit  to  be  looked  for;  namely,  the 
Church,  where  they  have  been  kept  from  time  immemorial.  They  have  been  con- 
stantly referred  to  as  the  foundation  of  faith  by  all  the  opposing  sects,  whose  ex- 
istence God  in  his  wisdom  has  seen  fit  to  permit,  whose  jealous  vigilance  would 
readily  detect  any  attempt  to  falsify  the  text,  and  whose  diversity  of  creeds  woald 
render  any  mutual  combination  morally  Impossible." 

«3  Adv.  Heresies,  B.  i,  8;  11,  c.  27. 

o^Eusebius,  Eccl.  Hist.  c.  8,  p.  176;  Iren.  adv.  Heresies,  B.  iii,  c.  1, 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     619 

disciples  this  faith."  ^  "  The  Gospel  [itself]  and  all  the  elders  witness, 
who  in  Asia  conferred  with  John  the  Lord's  disciple,  to  the  effect  that 
John  delivered  these  things  unto  them ;  for  he  abode  until  the  times  of 
Trajan  [A.  D.  98-117].  And  some  of  them  saw  not  only  John,  but  others 
of  the  apostles  also,  and  had  this  same  account  from  them,  and  witness 
to  the  aforesaid  account."^ 

Clement  of  Alexandria  gives  a  brief  testimony  respecting 
the  origin  of  the  Gospel  by  Mark.     He  says : 

"  When  Peter  had  proclaimed  the  word  publicly  at  Rome,  and  de- 
clared the  Gospel  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  as  there  was  a  great 
number  present,  they  requested  Mark,  who  had  followed  him  from 
afar,  and  remembered  well  what  he  said,  to  reduce  those  things  to  writing; 
and  that  after  composing  the  Oospel,  he  gave  it  to  them  who  requested  it  of 
him.  Which,  when  Peter  understood,  he  directly  neither  hindered  nor 
encouraged  it."  ^ 

The  substance  of  these  several  testimonies  is  to  this  effect : 
that  the  Gospels  were  written  by  the  apostles  of  Jesus ;  that  they 
wei^e  transmitted  by  the  writers  to  the  Church 

•^  §412.  ACom- 

throughout  the  whole  world  ;  that  the  Church  re-       parative 
ceiving  them  were  the  proper  custodians  of  the        ummaiy. 
Sacred  Books;  and  that  the  witness  of  Celsus,  the  champion 
of  disbelief,  stands  confirmed  in  his  affirmation  of  the  author- 
ship of  the  Gospels,  by  his  Christian  contemporaries  in  the 
middle  of  the  second  century ;  namely,  by  Tertullian,  Irenaeus, 
and  Clement  of  Alexandria,  all  of  whom  lived  within  eighty-  y 
five  years  of  the  publication  of  the  Gospels. 

i.  A  comparative  view  of  their  testimonies  is  conclusive  that 
written  Gospels  were  historically  existent,  and  in  wide  circula- 
tion, long  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century. 

1.  Irenseus  testifies  to  the  names  of  the  four  Evangelists  as  known 
as  the  writers  of  the  four  Gospels,  who  are  mentioned  in  their  proper 
order  as  we  now  have  them. 

2.  Irenfeus  affirms  the  first  of  the  following  propositions : 

o)  That  "  Matthew  issued  a  ivritten  Gospel  among  the  Hebrews  in  their 
own  dialect."  Celsus  says:  "T/ie  disciples  of  Jesus  wrote  such  accounts 
regarding  him." 


^  Ant.  Fathers,  Iren,  vs.  Heresies,  c.  10,  B.  1. 

96  See  Bp.  Lightfoot's  Apos.  Fathers  on  Iren.  11,  22.  5,  Fragment  iv,  p.  554. 

•J "  Hypotsrposes,"  cited  by  Eusebius,  Eccl.  Hist,,  B.  vl,  c.  14. 


620         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


/3)  That  "  Mark  handed  down  to  us,  in  writing,  what  had  been 
preached  by  Peter."  Clement  says:  "Mark  .  ,  .  reduced  those 
things  to  writing;  and  after  composing  the  Gospel,  he  gave  it  to  those  who 
had  requested  it  of  him." 

7)  That  "Luke  recorded  in  a  book  the  Gospel  preached  by  Paul." 
Tertullian  says:  "The  Gospel  of  Luke  has  stood  its  ground  from  its 
very  first  publication."  Celsus  says  that  he  could  relate  "  things  differ- 
ent from  those  written  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus." 

S)  That  "  John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  who  leaned  upon  his  breast, 
did  himself  publish  a  Gospel,  during  his  residence  in  Ephesus,  in  Asia." 
And  Celsus,  having  cited  from  each  Gospel,  says:  "All  these  things 
are  taken  from  your  own  books,  in  addition  to  which  we  need  no  other 
witness." 

ii.  The  transmission,  reception,  and  custody  of  the  Sacred 
Books  are  thus  substantiated  with  reference  to  the  Church : 

3.  Irenseus  says:  "Which  Gospel  they  first  preached,  and  after- 
wards transmitted  in  writing,  that  it  might  be  the  foundation  and  pillar 
of  the  Faith;"  that  "  the  Church,  though  dispersed  throughout  the 
eai'th,  received  from  the  apostles  and  their  disciples,  this  faith."  Clement 
says  that  "  Mark,  after  composing  the  Gospel,  gave  it  to  them  that  re- 
quested it  of  him."  Irenpeus  says  specifically  of  John's  Gospel:  "The 
Gospel  [itself]  and  all  the  elders  witness  who  in  Asia  conferred  with 
John,  the  Lord's  disciple,  to  the  effect  that  John  had  delivered  these 
things  unto  them ;  for  he  abode  until  the  times  of  Trajan.  And  some 
of  them  saw  not  only  John,  but  others  of  the  apostles  also,  and  had  this 
same  account  from  them  ;  and  witness  to  the  aforesaid  account  [of  the  cor- 
rectness of  John's  Gospel]." 

By  another  movement  upward  in  chronology  we  have  a 
witness  who  was  born  in  the  first  century  [A.  D.  89],  and  was 
living  before  the  Apostle  John  died,  whose  testimony  is  of 
paramount  importance  as  respects  the  existence  of  the  Gospel 
in  written  form,  at  that  date. 

11.  Justin,  surnamed  the  Martyr,  a  philosopher,  and  the 
most  eminent  Greek  Apologist  of  his  century,  a  Samaritan  by 
birth,  born  at  Shechem,  now  called  Nablous,  in  Central  Pal- 
estine. He  was  remarkable  for  his  memory,  his  wide  reading, 
and  great  learning.  An  undisputed  authority  states  that  "  he 
cites  our  present  canon,  and  particularly  our  four  Gospels  con- 
tinually,   .    .    .    about  two  hundred  times."  ^    His  references 

»8  Jones,  New  and  Full  Method,  1,  589. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical,     621 

to  and  citations  from  the  Gospels  alone  number  one  hundred 
and  twenty  instances.  In  his  First  Aj)ology  he  makes  nearly 
fifty  allusions  and  quotations  from  the  New  Testament,  and 
in  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  he  makes  about  seventy  more. 

But  that  which  is  of  special  importance  is  that  designation 
which  he  applies  to  the  four  Gospels  referring  to  their  author- 
ship, as  The  Memoirs  of  the  Apostles,  or  in  respect  to  their 
contents.  Memoirs,  and  Memorabilia.^  In  his  Dialogue,  he 
calls  the  Gospels  Memoirs  four  times,  and  Memoirs  of  the 
Apostles  ten  times.  A  few  instances  are  sufficient  to  illustrate 
the  fact: 

1.  "A  Star  arose  in  the  heavens  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  as  is  re- 
corded in  the  Memoirs  of  His  Apostles ."  ^^^ 

2.  "They  parted  my  garments  and  cast  lots  upon  my  vesture,  .  .  . 
and  this  is  recorded  to  have  happened  [unto  Jesus]  in  the  Memoirs  of  His 
Apostles." '^''^ 

3.  "As  those  having  written  Memoirs  touching  all  things  concerning 
our  Savior  Jesus  Christ  taught,  whom  we  believe." ^"^ 

4.  "For  the  apostles  in  the  Memoirs  composed  by  them,  which  are  called 
Gospels,  have  delivered  unto  us,  what  was  enjoined  upon  them/'^^^ 

5.  "In  the  Memoirs,  which  I  affirm  were  drawn  up  by  his  apostles,  and 
those  that  accompanied  them,  that  his  sweat  fell  down  like  drops  of  blood, 
while  he  was  praying." ^"^ 

Professor  Andrews  Norton,  in  his  famous  work,  says: 

"  From  the  works  of  Justin  might  be  extracted  a  brief  account  of 
the  life  and  doctrine  of  Christ,  corresponding  with  that  contained  in  the        -^ 
Gospels,  and  corresponding  to  that  degree,  both  in  matter  and  words, 
that  almost  every  quotation  and  reference  may  be  readily  assigned  to  its 
proper  place,  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  Gospels."  ^"^ 

Having  made  specific  citations  and  repeated  references  to 
each  of  the  four  Gospels,  Justin  further  alludes  to  and  cites 
from :  Acts,  Romans,  the  Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians, 
Philippians,  Colossians,  Second  Thessalonians,  Hebrews,  Sec- 
ond Epistle  of  Peter,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation. 


«*  Td  Airofjivr}fjL6v€VfMTa,=  things  worthy  of  remembrance. 
100  Dialogue  ivilh  Trypho,  106.  loi  Dialogue,  104.  ^'^  First  Apology,  88. 

103  76.  66.  104  Dialogue,  103. 

i»  Genuineness  of  the  Oospels,  Vol.  I,  p.  127,  2d  edition. 

40 


622         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 

12.  Papias,  who  seems  to  have  been  born  in  the  first  cen- 
tury, was  Bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia,  whom  Irenaeus 
mentions  as  "  a  hearer  of  John  [the  apostle]  and  the  associate 
of  Polycarp."  His  only  work  was  entitled,  An  Exposition  of 
the  Discourses  of  the  Lord^^  of  which  about  fifteen  fragments 
remain.     Papias  says : 

"  Matthew  composed  his  history  in  the  Hebrew  dialect,  and  every 
one  translated  it  as  he  was  able."  "Mark  being  the  interpreter  of 
Peter  [into  the  Greek],  whatsoever  he  recorded  he  wrote  with  great 
accuracy,  but  not  in  the  order  in  which  it  was  spoken  or  done  by  our 
Lord  ;  for  he  never  heard  nor  followed  the  Lord  ;  but  ...  he  was  in 
company  with  Peter  who  gave  him  such  instruction  as  was  necessary, 
but  not  to  give  a  history  of  our  Lord's  discourses.  Wherefore  Mark  has 
not  erred  in  anything  by  writing  some  things  as  he  has  recorded  them, 
for  he  was  carefully  attentive  to  one  thing;  [viz.,]  not  to  pass  by  any- 
thing he  heard,  or  to  state  anything  falsely  in  these  accounts."  There 
are  also  other  "  testimonies  from  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  and  likewise 
that  from  Peter."  "^ 

Another  upward  movement  of  about  seventy-five  years 
brings  us  completely  within  the  Apostolic  Age,  and  to  the  tes- 
timony of  two  persons  of  distinction  who  were  the  converts 
and  companions  of  the  apostles  themselves.  They  are  known 
as  the  Apostolic  Fathers;  the  Fathers  who  were  the  immediate 
pupils  of  the  apostles. 

13.  Clement  of  Rome,  of  whom  Paul  wrote  to  the  Philip- 
pians:  "Help  those  women  who  labored  with  me  in  the  gospel, 
with  Clement  also^  .  .  .  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of 
Lifey^^  Irenaeus  wrote  of  Clement:  "This  man  as  he  had 
seen  the  blessed  apostles,  and  had  been  conversant  with  them, 
might  be  said  to  have  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  still  echo- 
ing [in  his  soul] ."  ^^ 

Clement  was  Bishop  of  Rome  A.  D.  93-101.  He  wrote 
but  one  Epistle,  which  had  for  its  object  to  compose  a  feud  in 
the  Church  at  Corinth.  In  this  Epistle  he  cites  the  four  Gos- 
pels, Acts,  Romans,  Corinthians,  Ephesians,  First  Epistle  of 

io«  Aoyiuv  KvpiaKiav  'fliJTetf. 

w Euseb.  E. H.,  B.  Ill,  c.  39,  pp.  115, 116.  See  Bishop  Llghtfoot's  Apos.  Fath.,  p.  529. 

«»  Phil,  iv,  8.  109  ^civ.  Heresies,  ill,  c.  8,  $ 3. 


Yerification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     623 

Timothy,  Titus,  Hebrews,  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  the  Epistle 
of  James,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation;  making  fourteen  in 
all.  There  are  no  less  than  seventy-three  references  and  cita- 
tions in  this  Epistle.  )  Here  is  one  reference : 

"  Take  in  your  hands  the  Epistle  of  the  blessed  Paul  [to  you  Co- 
rinthians]. "What  wrote  he  unto  you  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  ? 
Of  a  truth  he  charged  you  in  the  Spirit  concerning  himself  and  Cephas 
and  Apollos  ;  because  even  then  ye  had  made  parties,"  ^^^  etc. 

14.  Barnabas  (70-79).  The  common  consensus  of  the  latest 
critical  scholarship  refuses  to  identify  this  man  with  Barnabas 
the  Apostle,  a  Levite  of  Cyprus,  who  was  the  companion  of 
Paul  in  his  missionary  journey  into  Asia  Minor.  He  seems  to 
have  been  a  layman,  and  his  Epistle  is  general  in  object  and 
character,  in  opposition  to  the  Judaizing  teachers  of  that  pe- 
riod. The  document  was  written  in  Greek  and  attached  to 
the  famous  Greek  manuscript  of  the  New  Testament  found  by 
Dr.  Tischendorf  in  the  convent  of  St.  Catherine,  at  Mount 
Sinai,  in  1859,  and  published  in  1862.  It  is  obvious  from 
this  Epistle  that  the  three  Synoptic  Gospels,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  the  two  to  the  Corinthians,  Philippians,  the  Second 
to  Timothy,  and  the  Second  of  Peter,  and  the  Apocalypse, 
were  all  in  circulation  at  that  time,  which  was  within  from 
five  to  fifteen  j^-ears  of  the  publication  of  the  Gospels.  The 
contents  of  this  Epistle  furnish  three  lines  of  evidence  touching 
the  point  under  discussion,  namely : 

1.  Conspicuous  Facts  and  Occurrences  mentioned  in  the  Gospels. 

2.  Quotations  and  References  to  the  Substances  of  the  Scriptures. 

3.  A  direct  citation  under  the  formula,  ".4s  it  is  written." 

Of  the  Facts  and  Occurrences,  a  few  instances  are  given 
to  illustrate  the  proposition : 

1.  The  mentioning  of  Jesus  Christ  by  name."^ 

2.  Choice,  Number,  and  Authority  of  Christ's  Apostles. "^ 

3.  Miracles  wrought  in  Christ's  Ministry. "^ 

4.  The  peculiar  Sufferings  which  he  endured."* 


»0J5;pfs.  c.  47.  ^^^Epis.of  Barnabas,  cc.  2,  7-9.  "«J6.  cc.6,  8 

»3Jb.  5.  "*76.  5,  7. 


624         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

5.  The  Spitting  upon,  and  Smiting  of  his  Person. "^ 

6.  The  Mockery  of  Herod  with  the  Scarlet  Robe."® 

7.  The  putting  of  Christ  to  death  by  Crucifixion."' 

8.  Giving  him  Vinegar  and  Gall  to  drink."* 

9.  The  Casting  of  Lots  for  his  Garments  before  the  Cross."' 

10.  His  Resurrection  on  the  Third  Day.^" 

11.  Its  Celebration  on  the  Eighth  Day.i^i 

12.  The  Ascension  of  Jesus  into  Heaven. ^^' 

A  few  illustrations  of  the  Keferences  and  Quotations  of 
Scripture  must  answer : 

"Thou  shalt  not  hesitate  to  give."^*^  "He  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous,  but  sinners." ^^^  "The  Son  of  God  being  Lord,  and  future 
Judge  of  the  quick  and  dead."*^  "By  receiving  the  remission  of  our 
sins  .  .  .  we  are  become  new,  created  afresh  from  the  beginning."  ^' 
"  The  glory  of  Jesus,  how  that  in  him,  and  unto  him  are  all  things. "i''' 
"  He  himself  endured  that  he  might  destroy  death."  ^^8  "  The  day  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  as  a  thousand  years."  ^^ 

Barnabas  quotes  the  words  of  Jesus  occurring  in  the  first 
Gospel,  under  the  formula  "^4«  it  hath  heen  written,^''  "For 
many  are  called,  but  few  chosen."^*  These  words  of  Jesus 
appear  in  Matthew's  Gospel,  and  nowhere  else  in  Scripture.^^ 
The  Epistle  of  Barnabas  reads :  "  Let  us  take  heed,  lest  haply 
we  be  found,  as  it  hath  heen  written.^^  Many  are  called,  hut 
few  chosen.''^  The  words  in  the  original  of  the  Epistle  of 
Barnabas  and  of  the  Greek  Testament  are  the  same,^^  as 
they  are  also  in  the  English.  The  Latin  version  is  ambiguous 
when  taken  by  itself  ;^'^  while  in  the  Greek  the  expression  is 
entirely  clear  and  determinate. 

The  argument  in  which  all  these  details  converge  is  the 
conclusive  one  that  the  Church  from  the  hands  of  the  apostles 
has  always  been  in  possession  of  the  apostolic  Scriptures.  It 
was  not  a  mere  oral  or  traditional  Gospel  whose  teachings 


»5  Epis.  of  Barnabas,  5,  7.         »>6  Zb.  7,         »'  lb.  7.        »8  /b.  7.  us  n,.  6. 

"!»J6.  5, 16.       wi/6. 15.      iMib.  15.      >M/6. 19;  Matt.  V.  42.       "4/6.  5;  Mark  11, 17. 

J25  J6.  7;  Acts  X,  42.  i«»/6.  16;  2Cor.  v,  17.  >«76.  12;  Rom.  xl,  36. 

>S8  lb.  6;  1  Cor.  xv.  26.      »»  76. 15;  2  Pet.  ill,  8.  i3o  75.  4^  close. 

131  Matt.  XX,  16;  xxll,  14,  In  A.  V.  "''fie  yiypairrai. 

i'^  IloXXoi  KKrjTol  6X^701,  5^  iK\€KTol  ^**  Sicurit  scriplum  est. 


Yeeification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     625 

governed  the  life  of  the  primitive  Christians,  but  they  held  in 
their  hands  and  studied  the  written  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
On  such  evidence,  it  is  obviously  irrational  to  hold  that  these 
Sacred  Books  did  not  have  an  historical  existence  during  the 
first  three  hundred  years  of  the  Christian  era,  and  that  the 
contents  of  the  books  were  not  historical.  For  it  is  irrational 
to  maintain  on  any  historical  grounds  or  questions,  that  so 
many  different  writers  could  state  so  many  circumstances  as  are 
recorded  in  these  Scriptures,  when  no  such  facts  ever  occurred, 
and  no  such  Scriptures  then  existed.  It  is  irrational  to  believe 
that  so  many  adversaries  could  name  so  many  apostolic  writers, 
could  describe  so  many  apostolic  acts,  and  would  ascribe  the  ac- 
counts of  these  acts  to  certain  sacred  books,  but  the  books  did 
not  exist  until  long  afterwards.  It  is  as  irrational  as  it  is 
absurd  to  believe  that  the  enemies  of  Christianity  do  not  con- 
jvrm  and  authenticate  these  Scriptures,  when  constantly  refer- 
ring to  these  writings  they  make  the  distinct  affirmation :  '•'•All 
these  statements  are  taken  froin  your  own  hooks,''''  "«s  you  your- 
selves have  recorded''''  them.  And  it  is  as  irrational  as  it  is  in- 
credible to  hold  that  the  apostolic  authors  did  not  write  these 
books  ascribed  to  them,  when,  without  a  single  exception, 
friends  and  foes  unanimously  voice  the  first  four  centuries  with 
the  imputation  and  declaration  that  they  did !  The  evidence 
adduced  substantiates  beyond  recall  the  historicity  of  the 
Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament ;  for  the  catena  of  proofs  is 
complete  respecting  the  authorship,  as  well  as  the  antiquity 
and  authenticity  of  these  Scriptures. 

It  is  the  wise  and  forcible  remark  of  the  scholarly  and 
critical  Dr.  Ezra  Abbot  which  is  indorsed  by  Professor  Norton 
respecting  the  Christian  witnesses  here  adduced,  that — 

"  It  is  not  [merely]  the  testimony  of  a  few  eminent  Christian  writers 
to  their  private  opinion,  but  it  is  the  evidence '^fney  afford  of  the  belief 
0/  the  v)hole  body  of  Christians;  and  this  .not  in  respect  to  ordinary  books, 
whose  titles  they  might  easily  take  on  trust,  but  respecting  books  in 
which  they  were  most  deeply  interested ;  books  which  were  the  very 
foundation   of  that   faith  which  IhmI  separated  them  from   the  world 


626         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

around  them,  exposed  them  to  hatred,  scorn,  and  persecution,  and  often 
demanded  the  sacrifice  of  life  itself."  ^^ 

That  which  is  of  paramount  importance  in  this  argument  is 

the  admissions  and  claims  made  by  the   adversaries  of  the 

Christian  religion  in  respect  to  the  fundamental 

§413.  Review  ^  '- 

of  the  facts  respecting  the  life,  death,  and  the  work  of  the 
VI  ence.  j^istorical  Christ.  On  these  very  facts  rest  the 
whole  system  of  Christianity.  Next  in  evidential  value  is  the 
distinct  implication,  or  assertion,  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
wrote  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  which  they  constantly 
cite,  or  to  whose  contents  they  refer.  An  added  fact  is,  that 
their  testimony  mentions  correctly  by  name  five  of  the  seven 
or  eight  writers  of  these  Scriptures,  and  designates  what  they 
w^rote.  This  voluntary  witness  of  those  adverse  to  Christianity 
stands  absolutely  confirmed  on  the  main  facts  and  many 
minor  circumstances,  by  the  testimony  of  the  Christian  Fath- 
ers. These  writers  are  not  merely  a  few  isolated  individuals 
who  stand  along  the  centuries  apart  from  the  communities  in 
which  they  lived,  but  men  of  highest  character  among  their 
contemporaries,  voicing  the  universal  judgment  of  the  Church 
as  it  has  been  from  the  beginning.  Here  are  mentioned  cities 
unto  whose  people  these  Epistles  were  addressed,  the  names  of 
the  apostles  who  were  the  writers  of  these  Epistles,  and  the 
different  Churches  which  were  made  the  depositories  of  these 
Epistles.  By  the  rules  of  evidence  applying  alike  to  historical 
documents,  whether  secular  or  sacred  in  character,  these  apos- 
tolic books  were  kept  in  the  proper  custody  to  insure  their 
authenticity. 

III. 

Destructive  critics  have  laid  great  stress  upon   the  titles 
which  are  prefixed  to  the  several  historical  books 

§414.  Some  '■ 

Collateral     of  the  New  Testament.     It  has  even  been  sug- 

Evidence.     ggg^-g^j  ^]^g^^  ^]^q  Christian  faith  originated  in,  and 

was  formulated  by,  the  titles  superscribed,  as  the  exclusive  evi- 

^^  Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  first  edition,  p.  14. 


Verification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     627 

dence  of  credibility.  Dr.  David  Strauss  went  so  far  as  to 
insist,  that  "  the  alleged  ocular  testimony  is  sheer  assumption, 
originating  from  the  titles  which  the  Biblical  books  bear  in  the 
Canon."  ^  But,  in  turn,  this  is  sheer  assumption,  andjdestitute 
of  proof.  It  is  a  well-ascertained  fact,  however,  that  these 
titles  are  very  ancient,  as  they  are  found  on  some  of  the  earliest 
Greek  manuscripts  extant.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  they 
were  placed  by  the  apostolic  authors  upon  the  original  auto- 
graphs. Nor  is  it  known  when  or  by  whom  these  superscrip- 
tions were  prefixed,  but  they  clearly  antedate  the  great 
Councils  of  the  Church.  It  is,  however,  most  natural  to  suppose 
that  they  were  originally  placed  upon  these  documents  by 
those  receiving  them,  to  whom  they  came  authenticated,  in 
order  to  distinguish  one  book  from  another.  Some  special 
minute  was  necessitated  to  preserve  the  authenticated  author- 
ships from  running  into  confusion.  Tertullian  censures  Mar- 
cion's  mutilated  Gospel  for  the  omission  of  its  title,  insisting 
that  "A  work  ought  not  to  be  recognized  .  .  .  w^hich  gives 
no  promise  of  credibility  from  the  fullness  of  the  title. ''^  ^" 
Several  different 'yers^c>?^5  which  are  among  the  earliest,  and 
long  antedate  the  most  ancient  Greek  manuscripts,  have  dis- 
tinguishing titles  of  the  First  Gospel.  Thus  the  Syriac  has : 
"  The  Gospel^  the,  Preaching  of  Matthew^  In  the  Persian  it 
reads:  '■'■The  Gospel  of  Matthew  which  was  spoken  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue  in  the  City  of  Palestine.^  hut  writteri  in  Syriac.''^ 
In  the  Arabic :  "  The  Gospel  of  Saint  Matthew  which  he  wrote 
in  Hebrew,  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit P  ^^ 

Next  to  the  peculiar  age-coloring  of  an  ancient  document, 
one  of  the  most  reliable  proofs  of  its  antiquity  and  authenticity 
is  the  use  made  of  it  in  citations,  made  by  contem- 

'         .  "^  §415.  Citations 

poraries  and  their  successors,  especially  when  the  as 

authorship  is  accredited.     As  they  know  their 

authority,  this  is  decisive  against  the  spuriousness  of  the  writ- 

i««  Leben  Jesu,  $  13. 

13T  Tertull.  adv.  Marcion,  Iv,  c.  2. 

138  Hornets  Introduction,  American  Edition,  Vol.  I,  215;  II,  295,  296. 


628         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ing;  and  they  could  not  quote  from  writers  who  lived  after 

themselves.     In  all  respects,  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 

have  the  advantage  of  incomparable  superiority  over  all  classic 

writers  known.     Dr.  Lardner,  who  was  a  famous  investigator 

on  all  lines  respecting  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  says : 

"  We  have  seen  and  examined  a  large  number  of  works  of  learned 
Christian  writers  in  Palestine,  Syria,  the  countries  of  Asia  Minor,  Egypt, 
and  that  part  of  Africa  that  used  the  Latin  tongue,  and  in  Crete,  Greece, 
Italy  and  Gaul ;  all  [written]  in  the  space  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  writing  of  the  first  book  of  the  New  Testament.  In  the  re- 
maining works  of  Irenseus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Tertullian  .  .  . 
there  are  perliaps  more  and  larger  quotations  of  the  New  Testament  than 
of  all  the  works  of  Cicero."  "  The  facts  upon  which  the  Christian  religion  is 
founded,  have  made  a  stronger  proof  than  any  facts  at  such  a  distance  of 
time;  and  the  books  which  convey  them  down  to  us  may  he  proved  to  he  uncor- 
rupted  and  authentic,  with  greater  strength  than  any  other  writings  of 
equal  antiquity."  '^^ 

Mr.  Rawlinson,  in  his  Bam^Hon  Lectures^  already  cited, 
makes  some  very  pertinent  remarks  on  the  point  of  quotations 
and  their  authenticating  force,  in  a  comparison  of  these  Scrip- 
tures and  the  writings  of  classical  authors.     He  says : 

"Before  the  titles  were  attached,  the  belief  must  have  existed  [in 
their  authenticity].  In  truth,  there  is  not  the  slightest  pretense  for  insinu- 
ating that  there  ever  was  any  doubt  as  to  the  authorship  of  any  one  of  the 
historical  books  of  the  New  Testament,  which  are  as  uniformly  ascribed  to 
the  writers  whose  names  they  bear,  as  the  'Return  of  the  Ten  Thousand' 
[ascribed]  to  Xenophon,  or  the  'Lives  of  the  Csesars'  to  Suetonius.  There 
is,  indeed, /ar  better  evidence  of  authorship  in  the  case  of  the  four  Gospels 
and  Acts  of  the  Apostles  than  exists  with  respect  to  the  works  of  almost 
any  classic  author.  It  is  of  very  rare  occurrence  for  classic  works  to  be 
distinctly  quoted,  or  for  authors  to  be  mentioned  by  name,  within  a  cen- 
tury of  their  publication.  The  Gospels  .  .  .  are  frequently  quoted 
within  this  period,  and  the  writers  of  three  at  least  out  of  the  four  are 
mentioned  within  the  time,  as  authors  of  the  works  correspondingly  per- 
fect to  those  which  have  come  down  to  us  as  their  compositions.  Our 
conviction  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Gospels  does  not  rest  exclusively,  nor  even 
mainly,  on  the  titles,  but  on  the  unanimous  consent  of  ancient  writers,  and  of 
the  whole  Christian  Church  in  the  first  ages."  "" 

Test  the  matter  by  a  few  instances  of  conspicuous  character. 
Herodotus,  who  lived  B.  C.  484-408,  and  has  been  called  "the 

^*>Lardner'sWorks,  Vol.  V,  197,  198.  »«  Led.  vl,  p.  159. 


Yerification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     629 

Father  of  Greek  History  "  in  the  classic  world,  is  said  to  have 
been  cited  by  Ctesias  only  once  in  the  first  century ;  and  in  the 
second  century  by  Aristotle  alone ;  and  in  the  third  century  hy 
no  writer  whatever ;  and  in  the  fourth,  hy  Chins  a/nd  hy  Cicero. 
Thucydides  (B.  C.  470-403),  the  greatest  Greek  historian,  is 
first  quoted  by  Hermippus,  about  two  centuries  after  the  publi- 
cation of  his  work.  Tacitus,  the  greatest  of  Koman  historians, 
who  wrote  about  A,  D.  110,  is  mentioned  once  by  his  personal 
friend  Pliny  the  younger  in  a  mere  friendly  and  incidental 
way,  but  he  is  not  quoted  or  referred  to  in  any  writings  until 
the  close  of  the  second  century,  by  Tertullian. 
Professor  John  J.  Given,  of  London,  says: 

"  Every  one  acquainted  with  the  matter  will  agree  with  us  when  we 
affirm  that  there  is  ten  times  stronger  and  more  satisfactory  evidence  for  the 
genuineness  and  substantial  integrity  of  the  books  of  the  Scriptures  than  for 
the  History  of  Tacitus  and  Thucydides,  of  Livy  and  Xenophon,  about  which 
no  scholar  ever  entertains  a  doubt.  If  beginning  with  the  present  century 
we  trace  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  for  example,  backwards 
and  upwards  along  the  stream  of  time  to  the  very  source,  we  shall  find 
them  accredited  by  each  foregoing  generation  and  by  men  of  each  pre- 
ceding century,  till  we  reach  the  days  of  primitive  Christianity  itself, 
when  we  find  them  universally  believed  by  early  Christians  to  be  the 
works  of  their  eight  reputed  authors,  and  quoted  as  such  by  the  earliest 
Christian  writers  and  contemporaries  and  successors  of  the  primitive 
penmen.  Add  to  this  the  testimony  of  neutrals,  apostates,  heretics,  foes 
as  well  as  friends  of  Christianity.  What  more  conclusive  proof  of  author- 
ship can  reasonable  criticism  demand,  or  the  archives  of  human  literature 
produce,  than  this  combined  and  concurrent  testimony  of  the  genuineness  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  f  "  ^'^^ 

That  we  have  not  now  any  Greek  copies  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment of  earlier  date  than  325  A.  D.  by  no  means  necessitates 
the  conclusion  that  none  existed  previously ;  for,  §415.  citations 
as  will  be  seen,  these  Scriptures  were  constantly  ^y  t^e 
appealed  to  and  cited  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church.  An  incident  gives  point  and  illustration  to  this  fact. 
In  the  course  of  conversation  which  occurred  in  London  between 
Dr.  Buchanan  and  Lord  Hales,  a  curious  but  most  interesting 
question  was  proposed :    "If  every  copy  of  the  New  Testament 

"'  Revelation,  Inspiration,  and  Canon,  210-212. 


630         HiSTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

had  been  destroyed  [under  the  Diocletian-Maximian  persecu- 
tion] at  the  end  of  the  third  century,  could  it  be  recovered 
from  extracts  made  from  it  in  the  works  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
second  and  third  centuries  ? "  Alter  a  short  lapse  of  time  these 
personages  met  again,  when  the  subject  was  renewed  by 
Lord  Hales  saying :  "As  I  possess  all  the  extant  Fathers  of  the 
second  and  third  century,  I  commenced  the  search ;  and  up  to 
the  present  thne,  I  have  found  the  entire  New  Testament,  all 
but  eleven  verses  !  "  ^*^  How  could  the  Fathers  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries  have  made  their  numerous  and  copious 
citations  from  these  Scriptures  unless  they  were  then  and  pre- 
viously in  existence? 

In  bringing  to  a  close  the  argument  for  the  antiquity, 
authenticity,  and  the  historicity  of  the  New  Testament,  it  is 
proper  to  remark  that  the  enemies  of  Christianity  affirm  the 
cardinal  facts  narrated  in  these  books,  naming  nearly  all  of  the 
authors,  and  refer  to  their  ■writings,  which  they  evidently  had 
in  their  possession  in  the  second  and  third  century.  The  wit- 
ness of  friends  confirins  the  testimony  of  the  enemies,  carrying 
upward  the  citations  from  the  same  and  other  books,  naming 
the  same  writers,  through  the  same  centuries,  to  the  very  times 
of  the  apostles  themselves.  The  internal  evidence  of  the  gen- 
uineness and  historicity  of  the  several  books  furnished  by  their 
ancient  titles  as  well  as  the  signatures  of  apostolic  authority 
in  all  the  Epistles;  the  lack  of  signatures  to  the  historical 
books  explained  by  Chrysostom  as  due  to  their  personal  de- 
liverance directly  to  those  to  whom  they  were  immediately 
addressed;  with  the  added  evidence  of  nearly  ten  thousand 
references  and  citations  from  these  Scriptures,  made  therefrom 
in  less  than  two  centuries  after  they  were  written  and  pub- 
lished,— constitute  a  combination  of  proofs  which  can  not  be 
adduced  in  favor  of  the  authorship,  antiquity,  and  historicity 
of  any  other  boolc,  or  set  of  boohs,  in  the  whole  literary  world. 

^*^New  Companion  of  the  Bible,  cited  by  Professor  Given  In  his  Canon,  p.  361. 


Yekification  of  the  New  Testament  as  Historical.     631 

A  further  proof  on  this  subject  is  needless.  The  induc- 
tions on  the  facts  adduced  are  inevitable.  According  to  the 
Rule  of  Evidence^  cited  from  Greenleaf  as  the  highest  author- 
ity for  the  practice  of  the  courts  on  all  historical  questions, 
the  sacred  books  have  always  been  in  the  proper  custody, 
being  in  the  possession  of  the  Church.  The  contents  of  the 
earliest  Greek  manuscripts,  and  of  the  still  earlier  versions  in 
other  languages,  attest  the  identity  of  the  facts  and  doctrines 
with  the  Scriptures  which  we  now  possess.  Their  antiquity  and 
historicity  are  therefore  established.  It  only  remains  to  pre- 
sent a  Tabulated  Exhibit  of  references  to,  and  quotations  from, 
all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  made  by  two  eminent 
Fathers  in  the  Church,  and  by  two  of  the  greatest  Apologists 
who  defended  the  Christian  faith  and  people  before  the  Eo- 
man  Government.  These  citations  of  Scripture  were  made  at 
different  dates,  according  to  the  time  when  the  different 
writers  wrote,  the  remotest  being  within  one  hundred  and 
eighty-fjve  years  after  the  publication  of  most  of  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  within  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  the  time  that  the  writings  of  John  the  apostle  appeared, 
and  were  received  by  the  Church. 

The  words  of  Professor  Given  are  here  in  place,  respecting 
the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  these  sacred  writings  as  a 
whole : 

"  No  one  can  pretend  to  gainsay  the  fact  that  they  have  been  estab- 
lished on  a  hundred-fold  more  historical  basis  than  of  those  literary 
productions  of  classical  antiquity  which  nobody  ever  thinks  of  calling  in 
question."  ^^ 

The  great  uncial  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament  date 
about  from  325  down  to  the  sixth  century;  but  Vei'sions  and 
text  can  be  traced  back  to  the  second  century.  There  is  no 
known  manuscript  of  Herodotus  or  of  Thucydides  dating 
earlier  than  the  tenth,  or  of  Xenophon  earlier  than  the  eleventh 
to  the  thirteenth  century.     There  is  no  reference  in  literature 


i«  Professor  Given  on  N.  T.  Canon,  p.  212. 


632 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament, 


to  Thucydides  for  two  centuries  after  his  death.  Wor  can  a/ny 
Latin  History  hear  the  test  which  is  applied  to  the  hooks  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  first  six  books  of  Tacitus's  Annals 
depend  on  only  one  MS.,  dating  not  earlier  than  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. (See  Watkin's  Bampton  Lectures^  1890,  p.  138,  note.) 
The  following  exhibit  is  compiled  from  Keith's  Demon- 
stration of  the  Truth  of  Christianity^  and  Mair's  Christian 
Evidences.     The  figures  given  are  approximate,  if  not  exact. 

§  417.    The  Citations  Made  Between  65-248  A.  D. 


IrenaBus. 

Clement 
of  Alex- 
andria. 

Ter- 
tullian. 

Orlgen. 

Total 

Grand 
Total. 

Years  after  the  Publica- 
tion of  the  New  Testa- 
ment  

115 

180 

15 

125 

80 

50 

60 

70 

17 

22 

27 

10 

10 

2 

8 

5 

5 

2 

0 

9 

3 

5 

0 

6 

3 

0 

0 

33 

150 

180 

20 

110 

60 

20 

110 

150 

30 

14 

15 

11 

8 

4 

1 

11 

5 

2 

0 

11 

0 

8 

0 

6 

0 

0 

0 

2 

150 

400 

80 

500 

240 

110 

160 

350 

120 

67 

64 

31 

24 

24 

18 

33 

18 

5 

0 

12 

2 

12 

0 

39 

0 

2 

0 

80 

185 

1352 

185 

649 

775 

147 

731 

620 

238 

150 

135 

68 

91 

48 

26 

92 

55 

18 

3 

154 

20 

50 

5 

77 

0 

0 

6 

60 

2112 

300 

1384 

1155 

327 

1061 

1190 

405 

253 

241 

120 

133 

78 

53 

141 

83 

27 

3 

186 

25 

75 

5 

128 

3 

2 

6 

175 

Matthew 

Mai'k    

Luke 

John 

Acts 

5278 

Romans 

1  Corinthians 

2  Corinthians 

Galatians 

Ephesians 

Philippians 

Colossians 

1  Thessalonians 

2  Thessalonians 

1  Timothy 

2  Timothy 

Titus 

Philemon 

3788 

Hebrews 

James 

1  Peter 

2  Peter 

1  John 

2  John 

3  John 

Jude 

Revelation 

605 

747 

778 

2391 

5749 

9671 

9671 

CHAPTER  XX. 

MANUSCRIPTS— YEKSIONS— CANON. 

I.  Greek  Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament. 

1.  The  Codex  Alexandrinus. 

2.  The  Codex  Vaticanus. 

3.  The  Codex  Sinaiticus. 

4.  The  Codex  Rossanensis. 

II.  Versions  prom  the  Greek  in  Other  Languages. 

1.  The  Old  Latin  Version : 

a)  The  Vulgate  of  Jerome. 

2.  The  Syriac  Versions  : 

o)  The  Peshito  Version. 
/3)  The  Careton  Version. 
7)  The  Harklein  Version. 
S)  A  Syrian  Gospel,  1895. 

3.  The  Egyptian  Versions : 

a)  The  Memphitic  Version. 
/3)  The  Thebaic  Version. 
7)  The  Bushmuric  Version. 

III.  Canon  op  the  New  Testament. 

1.  The  Councils  and  the  Canon. 

2.  The  Historical  Canon. 

a)  Synod  of  Laodicea. 

jS)  Catalogues  of  the  New  Testament. 

7)  Council  of  Trent. 

5)  How  our  Canon  was  Established. 

The  Conclusion. 


633 


Chapter  XX. 
MANUSCRIPTS — VERSIONS — CANON. 

g418.  Manuscripts— Versions— Canon. 

Ye  should  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  to 
the  saints. — Jude. 

In  regard  to  the  great  Book,  I  have  only  to  say  that  it  is  the  best  gift 
which  God  has  given  to  man. — Abraham  Lincoln. 

No  book  contains  more  truths,  or  is  worthy  of  more  confidence,  than  the 
Bible ;  for  none  brings  more  comfort  to  the  sorrowing,  more 
strength  to  the  weak,  or  more  stimulus  to  the  nobly  ambitious ; 
none  makes  life  sweeter,  or  death  easier  or  less  sad. — Justice 
David  J.  Brewer. 

Every  fair-minded,  unbiased  person  who  will  carefully  read  the  Bible, 
with  the  desire  to  master  its  contents,  will  find  abundant  evidence 
of  its  Divine  origin,  and  that  it  was  designed  to  teach  our  duty  to 
God  and  our  fellow-men. — Chief  Justice  Maxwell,  Neb. 

Hold  fast  the  Bible  as  the  sheet-anchor  of  your  liberties ;  write  its  pre- 
cepts upon  your  hearts,  and  practice  them  in  your  lives. — Ulysses 
S.  Grant. 

I  have  always  had,  and  shall  always  have,  a  profound  regard  for  Chris- 
tianity.— Henry  Clay. 

I  own  that  I  never  read  the  New  Testament  with  attention. — David  Hume. 

Your  Age  of  Reason  may  prevail  with  some  readers,  [yet]  you  will  not 
succeed  as  to  change  the  general  sentiments  of  mankind  on  the 
subject ;  and  the  consequence  of  printing  your  piece  will  be  a 
great  deal  of  odium  drawn  upon  yourself ;  mischief  to  you,  and  no 
benefit  to  others.  "He  that  spits  against  the  wind,  spits  in  his 
own  face." — Benjamin  Franklin  to  Thomas  Paine. 

My  hatred  and  horror  of  infidelity  are  greater  than  ever.  I  know  it  to 
be  the  extreme  of  madness  and  misery,  the  utter  degradation  and 
ruin  of  a  man's  soul. — Joseph  Barker.     (A  converted  skeptic.) 

Bring  with  thee  the  books,  especially  the  parchments. — Paul. 

Yes,  I  might  almost  say  to  the  Lord, 
Here  is  a  copy  of  Thy  Word, 
Written  out  with  much  toil  and  pain: 
Take  it,  0  Lord,  and  let  it  be, 
As  something  I  have  done  for  thee. — Lonqpbllow. 
635 


636         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

argument. 

To  give  completeness  to  the  whole  historical  argument  of  this  treatise, 
a  brief  account  of  the  circumstances  which  gave  origin  to  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  our  warrant  now  for  their  cred- 
ibility, is  superadded.  The  modern  foundation  for  Christian  belief 
in  these  Sacred  Books  is  threefold, — ancient  Greek  manuscripts, 
versions  in  other  languages,  and  the  history  of  the  Sacred  Canon. 
It  is  proposed  to  refute  the  unliistorical  pretense  which  has  gained 
some  credence,  that  an  early  Ecclesiastical  Council  assumed  the 
authority  to  determine,  by  a  capricious  majority,  what  books 
should  be  voted  into  the  Canon,  and  what  others  of  equal  claims 
should  be  rejected.  When  and  how  these  Scriptures  received 
their  canonicity,  will  appear  in  the  discussion ;  but  it  was  centu- 
ries before  any  Council  was  convened. 

Three  classes  of  literature  arose  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  from  which  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  are  to  be 
discriminated:  (1)  Those  in  which  certain  Scriptures  had  been 
corrupted  and  mutilated  by  the  heretics  so  as  to  suit  their  precon- 
ceived notions  of  what  they  should  teach:  (2)  Those  which  were 
mere  romances,  purporting  to  give  the  life  of  Jesus,  containing 
shreds  of  histoi*y,  but,  on  the  whole,  spurious  as  they  were  puerile  ; 
and  (3)  Others  which  were  issued  as  apostolic  writings,  but  were 
fraudulent  in  fact,  and  bore  the  forged  names  of  the  apostles  to 
give  them  authority.  The  Church  of  Christ  took  public  measures 
of  a  decided  character  to  protect  itself  from  these  impostures. 

The  Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  New  Testament  was  not  originally  written  and  pub- 
lished as  one  volume  as  we  now  have  it,  but  was  composed  of 
no  less  than  twenty-seven  distinct  writings.     It 

8419.  The  New  ^  ,  .      .        , 

Testament  was  not  all  Written  by  one  man,  but  it  is  the 
Many  in  One.  pp^^jy^^  ^f  eight  Writers,  who  wrote  from  differ- 
ent countries,  at  different  dates  within  about  thirty-five  years. 
Each  separate  document,  however,  had  its  own  distinctive 
occasion  and  purpose,  its  individual  function  and  scope ;  so 
that,  when  they  were  brought  into  one,  an  extraordinary  inter- 
relation was  discovered,  in  which  the  teachings  of  the  docu- 
ments were  found  to  be  supplemental  to,  and  confirmatory  of, 
each  other,  and  the  whole  evidenced  a  deep  internal  unity  of 
design^  hem'ing  the  characteristics  of  a  progressive  revelation 
from  God. 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  637 

No  book  in  all  the  history  of  literature  has  exerted  so 
powerful  an  influence  upon  human  conduct  and  individual 
character  and  life;  none  ever  so  endeared  itself  to  the  heart 
of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  mankind.  To  the  teachings  of 
this  volume  the  foremost  nations  of  the  earth  bow  with  rev- 
erent homage,  and  profess  to  be  guided  in  a  large  measure  by 
its  principles  and  spirit.  Those  civilizations  which  are  ac- 
knowledged to  hold  the  most  masterful  place  in  the  family  of 
nations,  to  be  most  advanced  in  science  and  literature,  in 
learning  and  culture,  in  commerce  and  influence, — the  most 
powerful  in  war,  the  most  prosperous  in  peace,  and  invincible 
before  all  enemies, — are  the  Christian  nations  called  the  Great 
Powers  of  the  world,  who  attribute  their  pre-eminence  to  the 
accepted  truth  and  principles  taught  in  these  Scriptures. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  remark  the  external  circum- 
stances in  which  the  New  Testament  was  originally  written. 
The  art  of  ancient  book-making  is  in  this  matter 

°  §420.  The 

something  more  than  interesting.     We  have  not      Ancient 

,,  ...  •    ^        1  •   1     Book-making. 

m  our  possession  those  origmal  manuscripts  which 
are  called  the  Autographic  Documents  of  the  Apostles,  but  we 
do  have  the  early  Greek  copies,  which  date  about  A.  D.  325. 
Why  there  are  none  known  of  earlier  possession  will  be  ex- 
plained hereafter. 

The  materials  upon  which  the  ancients  wrote  in  the  time 
of  the  apostles  were  either  papyrus  or  parchment.  Papyrus 
was  made  of  the  inner  cellular  tissues  of  the  papyrus  plant, 
a  reed  which  grows  in  abundance  in  the  Delta  district,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  in  Egypt.  Thin  strips  were  laid  together 
in  layers,  the  one  placed  horizontally  and  another  vertically, 
and  made  to  hold  by  means  of  a  glutinous  substance  under 
great  pressure.^  The  product  was  naturally  delicate  and  perish- 
able. Accordingly,  papyrus  was  early  superseded  by  the  use 
of  animal  skins  carefully  prepared  for  the  manufacture  of 
manuscript  books.     Parchment  was,  indeed,  a  beautiful  product 

J  Wilken  Breslas,  George  Ebers,  and  Sir  Mamede  Thompson. 
41 


638         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  both  sheep  and  goat  skins.  As  evidencing  the  use  of  parch- 
ment in  the  apostolic  times,  Paul  wrote  to  Timothy  to  bring 
with  him  to  Kome  the  cloak  which  he  had  left  at  Troas,  "  and 
the  books,  especially  the  parchments."  ^  It  was  about  the  third 
century  when  the  skins  of  calves  and  young  antelopes  were 
converted  into  vellum,  which  largely  superseded  the  poorer 
and  cheaper  materials  used  previously;  but  by  the  ninth 
century  the  art  of  its  manufacture  had  deteriorated  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  was  replaced  by  a  coarse  and  common  paper 
made  of  cotton  rags.  This  was  again  superseded  by  a  fine 
quality  of  paper  made  of  linen.  It  was  of  fine  and  elegant 
texture  quite  resembling  the  earlier  vellum,  whose  use  con- 
tinued until  the  art  of  printing  was  invented  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  evidential  value  of  these  facts  con- 
sists in  the  index  which  they  furnish  for  determining  the  date 
of  any  given  manuscript. 

The  writers  of  the  early  Christian  centuries  were  called 
scribes,  whose  industry  was  that  of  eopyisU,  ^vhich  was  re- 
garded as  a  worthy  and  dig-nified  work.     There 

§421.  The      °  JO 

Ancient  Were  two  classcs  of  scribes :  the  one  called  Tachy- 
graj)hers,  jnesmingsw/ft-writer.^,  who  wrote  rapidly 
in  shorthand  what  authors  dictated;  the  other  class  called 
Calligraphers,  or  Beautiful  writers,  who  copied  the  shorthand 
reports  in  a  large  and  elegant  form  resembling  our  copper- 
plate. Paul,  who  was  by  far  the  most  extensive  writer  of  the 
New  Testament,  employed  amanuenses  to  do  his  writing.  One 
Tertius,  a  Christian  copyist,  is  especially  mentioned  as  uniting 
with  the  apostle  in  Christian  salutation  to  the  Roman  brethren : 
"I  Tertius,  who  wrote  this  epistle,  salute  you  in  the  Lord."-^ 

It  is  related  that  Origen  employed  many  transcribers,  and 
his  friend  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  founded  one  of  the 
earliest  libraries  of  ecclesiastical  manuscripts  at  Caesarea-on- 
the-Sea,  to  which  Eusebius  had  free  access  in  writing  his 
historical  works.     It  is  stated  that,  upon  the  accession  of  Con- 

8  2  Tim.  Iv,  1.3.  «  Rom.  xvl,  22. 


Manuscripts — Yeksions — Canon.  639 

stantine  to  the  throne  of  the  empire  at  Constantinople,  he 
issued  an  imperial  edict  to  Eusebius  to  prepare  fifty  imperial 
copies  of  the  New  Testament  entire,  to  be  written  by  the  very 
best  copyists,  on  the  finest  vellum,  in  the  form  of  rolls,  subject  to 
imperial  examination.  The  work  was  accomplished  in  the 
library  of  Alexander,  from  the  transcriptions  of  Origen.  These 
volumes,  when  completed,  were  transported  in  two  wagons  of 
the  government  from  Caesarea  to  Constantinople,  whereupon 
the  emperor  examined  and  distributed  the  manuscripts  to  be 
kept  in  the  custody  of  the  several  Churches  for  future  use  and 
careful  preservation.  The  great  critics,  Tregelles,  and  Bleek, 
and  others,  entertained  the  belief  that  these  very  books  are 
now  in  possession  of  the  Biblical  scholars  and  in  the  libraries 
of  Europe/ 

The  sacred  manuscripts  are  of  two  general  classes,  belonging 
to  two  different  periods,  and  are  easily  distinguished  by  their 
chirography.     The  older  class  of  writine^s  were 

to      r    J  ^  to  §422.   Two 

designated   Uncials,^  because  written  originally.     Classes  of 

i-T,,  I.J.  -i-i  xi       Manuscripts. 

as  supposed,  in  letters  about  an  inch  m  length. 
The  text  appears  without  a  break  in  the  lines,  or  space  between 
words,  or  any  mark  of  punctuation.  Whenever  occasion  served, 
a  word  was  divided  at  the  end  of  a  line,  but  without  regard  to 
the  syllables.  However,  there  were  certain  indications  of  para- 
graphs or  divisions  of  the  text.  The  four  Gospels  were  marked 
by  irregular  sections,  and  in  the  later  copies  these  are  found 
also  in  Acts  and  the  Epistles.  Ammonius  of  Alexandria 
marked  off  certain  parallel  passages  in  the  four  Gospels  in 
order  to  harmonize  them;  and  after  him,  Eusebius  modified 
these  by  making  ten  tables  called  "  Canons."  In  manuscripts 
of  the  fifth  century,  certain  titles^  were  given  sections  as  head- 
ings, designated  by  a  given  number.  Matthew  had  sixty-eight 
titles,  Mark  had  forty-eight,  Luke  eighty-three,  and  John 
eighteen.  At  a  later  period  these  marks  are  found  also  upon 
Acts  and  the  Epistles. 

*  Merrill's  Story  of  the  Manuscriptti ,  p.  28.  '>  From  Uncia,  an  Inch. 

TitXoi,  titles,  superscriptions. 


640  Historical  Evidenck  of  the  New  Testament. 

Another  class  of  manuscripts  far  more  numerous  are  called 
Cursives  because  written  in  a  running  hand,  on  parchment  or 
vellum,  and  also  on  cotton  and  linen  paper.  The  cursives  are 
characterized  by  certain  dots  placed  over  the  lines,  by  spaces 
between  the  words  and  sentences,  and  by  an  irregular  system 
of  punctuation,  indicating  an  advance  upon  the  older  style  of 
writing.  This  class  began  with  the  tenth  century.  Many  of  the 
cursive  class  are  wrought  with  the  greatest  painstaking,  and 
have  the  quality  of  elegance.  The  vellum  used  was  often  of 
very  delicate  finish,  sometimes  dyed  with  richest  coloring,  the 
text  being  written  in  bold  and  beautiful  characters,  in  colored 
inks  or  in  silver,  and  brilliantly  illuminated  by  hand.  When 
a  manuscript  has  been  once  written  and  erased,  and  used  again, 
it  is  called  d^  palimpsest?  The  ink,  having  been  made  of  vege- 
table substance,  was  easily  obliterated;  and  a  given  vellum 
having  been  once  written  over,  the  writing  was  ruhhed  off  to 
make  place  for  a  second  and  even  a  third  text  to  be  inscribed. 
By  means  of  a  chemical  process  discovered  by  Dr.  Tischendorf, 
all  the  erased  writings  are  recoverable  and  the  desired  text 
restored. 

The  Uncial  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  according 

to  Scrivener,^  number  about  ninety-seven ;  and  of  the  cursives^ 

about  one  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 

§423.   Distribu-  .  .  '' 

tion  of  seven.  Occasionally,  in  order  to  obtain  a  com- 
Manuscripts.  pi^^^^  copy  of  thesc  Scriptures,  a  combination  is 
made  of  the  several  parts  or  fragments,  which  are  made  to 
supplement  each  other;  but  the  parts  are  of  different  chro- 
nology, and  therefore  of  unequal  antiquity  and  value  for 
critical  purposes.  All  the  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament 
now  known  are  in  the  form  of  books,  several  volumes  of  which 
embrace  these  Scriptures.  These  manuscript-books  are  pre- 
pared in  the  form  of  a  folio,  a  quarto,  or  a  duodecimo.  They 
are  distributed,  mostly  in  the  libraries  of  European  countries^ 
as  follows:   Sweden  has  one  copy;    Ireland  has  three;  Den- 

'  "^Tfv  {\j/du) ,  to  rub  away,  and  irdXiv,  aflnin  s  Introd.  8d  ed.  1883. 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  641 

mark,  three;  Holland,  six;  Scotland,  seven;  Switzerland, 
fourteen;  Spain,  nineteen;  Kussia,  over  seventy ;  Germany 
and  Austria,  ninety ;  England,  two  hundred  and  fifty ;  Italy, 
three  hundred  and  twenty.  So  by  cities:  Pesth  has  two; 
Treves,  two ;  Modena,  six ;  Hamburg,  six ;  Naples,  nine ;  Cam- 
bridge, nineteen;  Turin,  twenty;  Munich,  twenty-seven;  Vi- 
enna, twenty-eight;  Venice,  fifty;  Florence,  fifty ;  Oxford,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five ;  Rome,  one  hundred  and  twelve,  of 
which  more  than  a  hundred  are  in  the  library  of  the  Vatican ; 
Paris  has  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  which  are  in  the  Im- 
perial Library,  besides  ten  placed  elsewhere  in  France. 

Only  one  uncial  book  contains  the  entire  New  Testament 
complete  in  itself,  although  thirty  of  all  kinds  have  substan- 
tially all  these  sacred  writings.     The  Gospels    ^^^  ^^    j^_ 
are  more  numerous  than  the  Epistles.     Of  the     mentary 
sixty-three  uncials  of  all  kinds,  fifty-seven  are  of 
the  Gospels.     Dr.  Scrivener  gives  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  cursives  of  the  Gospels,  while  Acts  and  the  General 
Epistles  have  fourteen  uncials  and  two  hundred  and  thirty -two 
cursives.     Paul's  Epistles  are  Avritten  in  fifteen  uncials,  and  in 
two  hundred  and  eighty-three  cursives.     The  Book  of  Revela- 
tion is  written  in  five  uncials,  and  one  hundred  and  five  cur- 
sives.    Many  of  these  manuscript  books  are  stained  with  age, 
the  vellum  being  fragile  and  worm-eaten.     The  following  co- 
dices are  regarded  as  most  valuable  critically,  namely : 

1.  The  Alexandrine  Codex. 

This  codex  was  brought  from  Egypt  in  1628  by  Cyril 
Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  presented  in  person  to 
Charles  I,  and  is  now  in  possession  of  the  British     „  _^  ^    „. 

'  ^  .  .  §  425.  Its  His- 

Museum.     Dr.  Scrivener  assigns  this  interesting       tory  and 
document  to  the  beginning,  but  Dr.  Davidson  to        ®scrip  ion. 
the  middle,  of  the  fifth  century.     An  autograph  note  from  the 
patriarch  named  accompanied  the  codex,  certifying  that  the 
Egyptian  tradition  refers  the  copying  of  the  document  to  the 


642         Historical  Evidence  of  the  JSTew  Testament. 

martyred  and  sainted  Thecla,  about  thirteen  hundred  years 
previously;  and  this  corresponds  Avith  an  Arabic  note  on  the 
first  page,  attesting  the  same  fact.  This  would  place  the  date 
in  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  and  it  is  doubted  on 
just  grounds. 

The  Alexandrine  Codex  was  the  best  known  and  most 
studied  by  the  scholars  of  the  past.  It  consists  of  four  books, 
one  of  which  contains  the  New  Testament.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  several  books  the  first  line  is  written  in  vermilion.  The 
text  is  in  uncial  characters,  marked  with  Ammonian  sections, 
bearing  "  titles "  as  heads ;  but  there  are  no  spaces  between 
words,  no  accents  or  breathing  signs  at  the  aspirates  in  this 
Greek.  The  paragraphs  are  made  conspicuous  with  initial 
letters,  and  a  new  line  marks  the  divisions.  Each  page  has 
two  columns ;  each  column  has  fifty  lines,  with  about  twenty 
letters  to  the  line.  The  manuscript  evidences  many  erasures 
and  abbreviations ;  and  there  are  grave  defects  in  the  document. 
It  begins  with  Matthew  xxv,  6,  and  omits  John  vi,  50,  to  viii, 
52 ;  and  2  Cor.  iv,  13,  to  xii,  6. 

2.  The  Vatican  Codex. 

This  codex  ranks  at  least  among  the  best  transcripts  of  the 
New  Testament.     It  is   supposed  to  be  nearly  two  hundred 

§  426.  Its      years  older  than  the  Alexandrine.     It  Avas  found 

History.  by  Pope  Nicholas  Y,  a  great  scholar  in  his  age, 
in  the  year  1448.  It  was  long  kept  concealed  in  the  Vatican 
at  Rome  by  the  successive  popes ;  and  although  it  was  twice 
captured  by  Napoleon  I,  and  carried  away  to  Paris,  after  his 
defeat  at  Waterloo  in  1815,  with  other  treasures,  it  was  re- 
stored by  the  allied  powers  to  Italy.  When  this  occurred, 
Tregelles  was  but  three  years  old,  learning  his  vernacular  in 
England,  and  Tischendorf  was  yet  a  child  of  two  in  his  mother's 
arms  at  Legenfeld,  in  Germany. 

In  form  it  is  in  red  morocco  quarto,  ten  and  a  half  inches  in 
length,  and  ten  inches  broad,  and  about  five  inches  thick,  con- 


Manuscripts — Yersions — Canon,  643 

taining  seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  thin  leaves  of  vellum,  of 
which  one  hundred  and  forty-six  contain  the  New  §427.  its 
Testament.  It  is  written  in  uncial  character,  Descnption. 
three  columns  to  the  page.  '  There  are  no  divisions  except  the 
spaces  made  by  the  omission  of  letters,  as  at  the  beginning  of 
a  new  subject;  and  there  are  no  punctuation  marks.  Dr. 
Tischendorf  dated  this  document  in  the  fourth  century,  and 
Dr.  Tregelles  assigned  it  to  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  that 
century. 

3.  The  Sinaitic  Codex. 

This  manuscript  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  valued  of 
the  whole  collection.  In  the  first  instance,  Dr.  Tischendorf 
in  the  year  1844,  discovered  the  document  in  ? 

•^  '  8428.  Its  His- 

forty-four  old,  molded  leaves  which  were  brought  tory  and 
to  him  for  kindling  his  fire,  at  the  convent  of  ®scrip  ion. 
St.  Catherine,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai.  He  presented  these 
leaves  as  the  Codex  Frederica- Augusta,  in  honor  of  his  patron, 
the  Saxon  king,  to  the  library  of  the  University  in  Leipzig. 
These  leaves  belonged  to  the  Old  Testament.  In  1859,  Tisch- 
endorf in  the  same  place  found  the  remainder  of  the  docu- 
ment, which  he  presented  to  his  Kussian  patron,  Emperor 
Alexander  II.  In  1862  the  government  issued  a  magnificent 
fac  simile  of  the  manuscript  in  four  folio  volumes,  as  a  me- 
morial of  the  One  Thousandth  Anniversary  of  the  Russian 
Empire.  Copies  were  presented  to  the  great  institutions  and 
libraries  of  the  world.  About  a  dozen  copies  were  sent  to  the 
United  States,  and  are  found  in  our  great  libraries.  In  the 
consensus  of  Christendom,  the  Codex  Yaticanus  and  the  Codex 
Sinaiticus  are  held  for  all  critical  purposes  as  the  most  ancient 
and  most  valuable  of  all  the  codices  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  writing  is  in  the  uncial  style,  upon  very  fine  thin 
vellum,  in  three  hundred  and  forty-six  and  a  half  leaves,  which 
are  thirteen  and  a  half  inches  in  length  by  more  than  fourteen 
inches  in  breadth.     The  text  of  the  New  Testament  is  in  four 


644         HiSTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

columns  of  forty-eight  lines  each  on  a  page,  the  whole  number 
of  pages  being  one-hundred  and  forty-seven  and  a  half.  It  is 
without  accents  or  aspirates,  without  spacing  between  words, 
or  large  initials  to  indicate  the  beginning  of  a  paragraph.  In 
connection  with  this  manuscript  was  found  the  Epistle  of 
Barnabas,  and  a  part  of  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  and  a  large 
portion  of  the  Old  Testament. 

4.  The  Codex  of  Rossano. 

This  Codex  Hossanensis  is  among  the  latest  discoveries  of 

manuscripts  related  to  the  New  Testament.     It  takes  its  name 

from  a  village  named  Rossano,  near  which,  on  a 

8429.  Its  His-  »  '     .  ' 

tory  and  hill,  the  document  was  found,  in  South  Italy, 
escnp  ion.  ^j^q^^  three  miles  from  the  sea.  It  does  not 
rank  as  first  class  for  the  objects  of  critical  investigation;  but 
it  is  easily  first  in  respect  to  its  pictorial  illustrations,  being 
the  oldest  pictorial  Gospel  known.  It  is  adorned  with  about 
forty  miniatures  in  rich  and  vivid  colors,  on  the  margins  and 
spaces.  The  subjects  are  prominent  scenes  of  the  Gospels, — 
the  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins  and  the  Bridegroom ;  the  Tri- 
umphal Entry  of  Jesus  into  Jerusalem ;  Judas  Restoring  the 
Thirty  Pieces  of  Silver,  and  in  the  background  is  depicted 
his  body  dangling  from  the  bough  of  a  tree ;  the  Scene  of  the 
Lord's  Agony  in  Gethsemane;  and  a  representation  of  the 
four  Evangelists,  each  bearing  a  book  on  his  left  arm,  while 
the  right  hand  is  extended  in  the  act  of  benediction.  Profess- 
ors Gebhardt  and  Ilarnack,  who  discovered  this  work,  issued 
a  descriptive  volume  of  the  manuscript,  with  fac  similes  and 
miniatures  in  outline  and  monochrome. 

The  document  is  a  thick  quarto,  bound  in  strong  black 
leather,  containing  the  two  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Mark — a 
purple  vellum  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pages,  written 
in  uncial  letters,  in  double  columns  of  silver  text,  twenty  lines 
to  the  column,  and  from  nine  to  twelve  letters  to  the  line. 
The  first  three  lines  of  each  Gospel  are  written  with  gold. 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  645 

The  words  are  without  spaces,  without  accents,  without  aspi- 
rates, with  few  erasures,  and  with  only  an  occasional  punctua- 
tion. It  has  the  Ammonian  sections  and  the  Eusebian  canons. 
From  these  internal  evidences  of  its  antiquity,  it  is  assigned 
as  having  been  written  in  the  fifth,  or  at  least  the  sixth,  cen- 
tury. 

These  are  the  principal  Greek  manuscripts  yet  discovered 
of  a  high  antiquity  and  superior  authority.  They  furnish  im- 
portant advantao^es  for  the  critical  study  of  the 

ir  o  J  §430.  Occasion 

New  Testament.     But  some  passages  have  been  of 

rendered  doubtful  by  liberties  taken  with  the  rrors. 

text  in  transcribing  these  sacred  books.  The  alteration  of  a 
single  letter  by  mistake,  or  by  the  insertion  of  a  word  explan- 
atory, written  by  the  copyist  or  the  reader  on  the  margin  of 
the  document,  became  incorporated  into  the  text  by  a  subse- 
quent transcriber,  has  the  effect  to  put  the  true  and  original 
text  in  doubt.  A  careful  and  critical  comparison  and  editing 
of  the  several  texts  collated,  furnish  the  means  of  detecting 
and  correcting  any  such  error.  Truly  these  instances  of  cor- 
rupting the  text  are  in  most  unimportant  passages,  and  in  the 
vast  majority  of  instances  are  a  mere  matter  of  spelling ;  but 
clearly  where  the  sense  is  changed  even  in  minor  details,  one 
prefers  fact  to  fiction.  The  critical  Michgelis  classed  these 
divers  readings,  attributing  them  to  one  of  the  following 
causes  or  occasions,  viz. : 

"  1.  The  omission,  addition,  or  exchange  of  letters,  syllables,  or 
words,  from  the  mere  carelessness  of  the  transcribers. 

"  2.  Mistakes  of  the  transcribers  in  regard  to  the  true  text  of  the 
original . 

"  3.  Errors  or  imperfections  in  the  ancient  manuscripts  from  which 
the  transcriber  copied. 

"4.  Critical  conjecture,  or  intended  improvements  of  the  original 
text. 

"5.  Willful  corruptions  [made  in  some  copies]  to  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  party,  whether  orthodox  or  heterodox." 

A  very  natural  question  arises  whether  scholars  may  not 
be  exposed  to  the  imposition  of  spurious  documents  by  experts 


646         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

in  old  Scriptology?     Frauds  have  been  attempted  again  and 
affain.     It  was  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Scrivener  that 

§431.  Detection      °  ^ 

of  in  England  alone  there  were  at  least  fifty  diflfer- 

mpos  ures.  ^^^  persons  who  could  detect  the  most  skillfully- 
executed  fraud  of  this  character  that  the  world  could  produce, 
on  the  mere  internal  evidence  of  the  case.  Some  remarkable 
instances  are  cited.  In  1856,  one  Constantine  Simonides,  a 
most  accomplished  impostor,  tried  to  sell,  along  with  certain 
genuine  manuscripts,  a  document  purporting  to  be  a  classical 
history  of  an  Egyptian.  Dr.  Tischendorf  detected  the  fraud 
and  telegraphed  to  Berlin  to  beware  of  the  spurious  document. 
Upon  arriving,  Simonides  offered  his  manuscript  for  sale,  when 
it  Avas  tested  microscopically  and  also  chemically,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  was  instantly  arrested  for  attempted  imposture. 
The  same  man,  in  the  same  way,  offered  for  sale  in  the  Bod- 
leian Library,  at  Oxford,  England,  some  genuine  manuscripts 
and  some  fragments  produced  skillfully  in  the  uncial  text,  the 
vellum  being  stained  with  age  and  bearing  all  the  marks  char- 
acteristic of  a  very  early  antiquity.  The  librarian  merely 
smelled  the  leaves,  and  returning  the  fragments  said  that  they 
dated  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century ! 

The  Versions  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  early  translations  were  made  from  the  Greek  manu- 
scripts into  the  vernacular  speech  of  the  various  nations,  and 
circulated  widely.    These  constitute  another  and 

§432.  The  Uses  -^ 

of  the  more  ancient  source  for  determining  the  genu- 

ineness and  authenticity  of  the  sacred  books. 
Being  written  in  different  languages  and  dialects,  this  fact  in 
itself  erects  impassable  barriers  against  success  in  any  at- 
tempted corruptions  of  the  sacred  text.  Versions,  therefore, 
constitute  an  independent  and  invaluable  line  of  Christian  evi- 
dence, some  of  them  antedating,  and  others  paralleling,  the 
proofs  furnished  by  the  Greek  manuscripts  already  cited. 
Only  the  most  important  versions  are  here  mentioned. 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  647 

1.  The  Old  Latin  Version.  This  is  claimed  as  first  in 
value  and  in  time,  dating  about  the  middle  of  the  second  cen- 
tury. TertuUian  of  Carthage,  Cyprian  of  Alexandria,  and 
Augustine  of  Africa,  were  familiar  with  this  translation.  It 
was  used  in  the  fourth  century  in  Piedmont  and  Lombardy,  in 
Xorthern  Italy.  The  version  originated  in  Africa  about  A.  D. 
150.  Christianity  spread  rapidly  then,  and  the  Old  Latin 
version  went  with  Christianity.  It  contains  the  Canon  of  the 
New  Testament. 

Out  of  this  Old  Latin  version  came  the  Vulgate^  which 
is  held  in  such  high  honor,  a  revision  made  by  the  scholarly 
Jerome.  He  began  his  work  at  Rome  in  A.  D.  383,  and  con- 
cluded it  in  his  monastic  cell,  in  the  Church  of  the  Nativity, 
at  Bethlehem  of  Judaea,  in  385.  The  revision  was  urged 
upon  Jerome  by  the  Roman  Bishop  Damasus,  and  was  in- 
tended for  the  common  people  speaking  the  Latin  language,  as 
its  name  imports.     Dr.  Scrivener  remarks  of  the  revision : 

"As  an  interpretation,  the  Vulgate  far  surpasses  its  prototype;  as 
an  instrument  of  criticism,  it  is  decidedly  supei-ior,  where  the  evidence 
of  the  Old  Latin  may  be  had,  bringing  before  us  the  testimony,  good 
and  bad,  of  documents  of  the  second  century ;  but  only  that  of  the 
manuscripts  which  Jerome  deemed  correct  and  ancient  at  the  end  of 
the  fourth  [century]." 

2.  The  Syriac  Versions.  These  constitute  a  second  class 
of  the  first  importance.  The  Aramcean  branch  of  the  Semitic 
family  of  languages  was  used  in  Northern  Syria.  These 
Versions  are  among  the  most  ancient  and  most  valued  of  the 
New  Testament.     These  are  : 

a)  The  Peshito ;  that  is,  "  simple,  literal,  faithful."  It  is 
written  in  Old  Syriac,  and  is  dated  by  most  scholars  near  the 
middle  of  the  last  half  of  the  second  century ;  but  Michaelis 
places  it  in  the  first  century.  Eusebius  says  of  Hegesippus, 
the  first  Christian  historian  after  the  Evangelists,  that  "  he  also 
states  some  particulars  [citations]  from  the  Gospel  of  the  He- 
brews, and  from  the  Syriac."      The  Peshito  is  wanting  in  the 


648         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  John,  Second  Epistle  of  Peter, 
that  of  Jude,  and  also  Revelation.  It  contains  all  the  rest  of 
our  Canon.  The  version  is  remarkable  for  its  purity  and 
exactness  of  translation.  The  Syrian  Christians  hold  that 
their  version  is  the  original  New  Testament,  which  claim, 
however,  is  hardly  valid.  Nevertheless  the  Churches  in  Syria 
have  certainly  had  in  unbroken  use  these  Scriptures  from  an 
early  antiquity  until  now. 

/?)  The  Cureton  Version.  This  is  so  named  in  respect  to 
Dr.  Cureton,  who  discovered  and  first  published  it.  It  is  a 
fragment  of  eighty-two  and  a  half  leaves,  but  is  one  of  the 
earliest  of  the  Syriac  versions.  It  was  discovered  in  1842 
in  a  convent  of  the  desert,  about  seventy  miles  northwest 
from  the  city  of  Cairo,  in  Egypt.  Scrivener  seems  to  place 
the  date  in  the  fifth  century,  and  says  that  it  is  "  inferior  in 
every  respect  to  the  primitive  version,  which  is  still  read 
throughout  the  Churches  of  the  East."  But  other  critics, 
such  as  Cureton,  Tregelles,  Alford,  Ewald,  Bleek,  and  others 
also,  believe  that  this  text  dates  earlier  than  the  Peshito. 

y)  The  HarTdean  Syriac  Version  belongs  to  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, and  was  written  by  the  heretical  Bishop  Xenias,  of 
Eastern  Syria.     It  is  in  the  Protestant  College  at  Beirut. 

8)  A  Syrian  Gospel,  discovered  in  1895  at  St.  Catherine 
convent,  Mount  Sinai,  has  attracted  considerable  attention 
recently.  A  photograph  of  this,  with  several  other  docu- 
ments in  Syriac,  Greek,  and  Arabic,  was  taken  by  Mrs.  Lewis 
and  her  twin  sister,  Mrs.  Gibson,  from  Cambridge,  England. 
The  Syriac  Codex  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  ten  pages 
Its  peculiarity  is  in  differing  from  all  the  Gospels  of  the  Canon 
in  representing  the  opposite  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarna- 
tion. It  reads :  "  Joseph,  to  whom  was  betrothed  the  Virgin 
Mary,  begat  Jesus,  who  was  called  Christ."  This  circum- 
stance, indicating  a  departure  from  all  the  Greek  manuscripts 
which  were  original,  would  suggest  that  its  origin  was  due  to 
a  heretic  of  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  which  is  the 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  649 

date  claimed  for  this  document.  If  so,  it  is  the  recovery  of 
one  of  those  corrupted  and  mutilated  Gospels  issued  by  the 
Gnostics  or  Ebionites  of  that  period,  when  they  chose  to  alter 
the  text  to  conform  to  their  own  peculiar  preconceived  views 
of  what  the  Gospel  ought  to  teach. 

3.  The  Egyptian  Versions  are  otherwise  known  as  the 
Coptic  Versions.      They  are  written  in  three  dialects,  namely : 

a)  The  Memphitic  {JBahirio)  dialect,  which  was  spoken  in 
Lower  Egypt,  of  which  there  are  extant  twenty-eight  manu- 
scripts of  the  Gospels,  seventeen  of  Acts,  the  Pauline,  and  the 
General  Epistles,  and  ten  of  the  Book  of  Kevelation.  This 
version  is  held  to  be  the  purest  and  freest  from  corruptions  of 
all  those  of  the  second  century. 

)8)  The  Thehaic  (Sahidic)  Version,  which  belonged  to 
Upper  Egypt,  is  a  mere  fragment. 

y)  The  BashTmiric  {Elea.  rchian)  Version  was  made  in  the 
third  century.  It  consists  of  fragments  of  John's  Gospel  and 
of  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

These  several  versions  go  quite  far  in  filling  up  the  gap  be- 
tween the  writing  of  the  Gospels  in  A.  D.  55-65  and  the  first 
Greek  manuscripts  dating  325  A.  D. 

The  Canon  of  the  IS^ew  Testament. 

The  term  Canon^  originally  meant  a  measuring  rule  in 
mechanics.  It  thence  easily  acquired  the  figurative  sense  of  a 
rule  of  life.     In  its  application  to  religion,  it  „^^„  „ 

^^  .  §433.  Meaning 

imports  the  rule  which  tests  our  faith  and  prac-  of  the 
tice.  When  applied  to  the  Scriptures,  it  is 
called  the  Sacred  Canon,  meaning  that  rule  by  which  the  sev- 
eral books  which  constitute  the  Bible  were  originally  placed 
in  authority  in  the  Church  as  containing  the  Word  of  God. 
The  term  Canon  is  here  employed  with  special  reference  to 
the  respective  books  of  the  New  Testament,  whether  viewed 
as  individual  writings,  or  collectively  as  a   body  of   Scrip- 

•Kacwf,  Canon. 


650  HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tures,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  came  to  be  regarded  as 
the  authoritative  source  and  standard  of  Christian  belief. 

A  false  notion  has  gained  considerable  publicity  and  cre- 
dence respecting  the  method  by  which  these  books  had  as- 
signed to  them  a  canonical  character.    It  is  su]> 

§  434.  The  ^  ,  .   .     ^ 

Canon  and  poscd  by  some  that  the  claim  of  these  writings 
oiinci  8.  ^^  ^j^.^  high  authority  originated  in  and  is  due 
to  the  decision  of  a  Churchly  Council ;  that  the  several  docu- 
ments constituting  our  New  Testament  Avere  subjected  to 
a  selection  of  this  literature  to  the  exclusion  of  other  litera- 
ture of  equal  claim,  by  a  class  of  incapable  men  at  the  Council 
of  Nicaea  in  A.  D.  325,  who  arbitrarily  voted  these  books  into 
the  Canon,  and  as  arbitrarily  rejected  the  others,  in  accord- 
ance with  their  own  peculiar  ignorance,  caprice,  and  power  as  a 
majority !  The  hypothesis  is  a  fiction,  and  is  utterly  destitute 
of  historical  truth.  The  sacred  Canon  did  not  originate  in 
that  way ;  and  the  Council  of  Niccea  did  not  touch  the  snhject. 
Neither  at  Jerusalem  where  Christianity  was  cradled,  nor  at 
Rome  where  it  centralized,  nor  at  Antioch  where  the  disciples 
were  first  called  Christians,  nor  yet  at  Nicsea  Avhere  the  first 
Ecclesiastical  Council  met  in  the  presence  of  Constantine  the 
first  Christian  emperor,  was  any  such  movement  known  or 
contemplated.  We  do  not  find  in  history  that  the  apostles  of 
Jesus  in  their  collective  capacity,  or  their  juipils  the  Apostolic 
Fathers,  or  any  of  their  successors,  adopted  a  procedure  so 
absolutely  unsafe  and  absurd.  Nor  could  such  a  course  have 
won  the  confidence,  much  less  have  commanded  the  faith  of 
the  myriads  of  intelligent  people  who  hastened  to  embrace 
the  Christian  religion  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  in  the  first 
epochs  of  Christianity,  Now,  no  man  is  willing  to  die  for  a 
lie,  he  knowing  it  to  be  such ;  but  multitudes  of  men,  women, 
and  even  children,  who  were  in  a  position  to  know  whereof 
they  affirmed,  surrendered  life  itself  under  the  cruelest  con- 
ditions that  could  be  imposed,  rather  than  yield  their  confi- 
dence in  the  Christ  of  these  Scriptures.     If   such  procedure 


Manuscripts — Yersions — Canon.  651 

had  been  historical,  the  New  Testament  were  a  worthless  class 
of  documents. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  trace  mere  myths  to  their  origin. 
But  something  more  than  a  half-century  ago,  William  Hone,  of 
Great  Britain,  issued  two  editions  of  a  work  which 

'  8435.  Fiction 

first  appeared  with  this  truthful  title,  The  Apoc-  for 

ryphal  New  Testament^  but  with  the  purpose  of  '^" 

disparaging  our  authentic  and  Canonical  Scriptures.  Subse- 
quently he  issued  a  new  edition  with  the  title-page  reading: 
"TAe  Suppressed  Gospels  and  Epistles  of  the  Original  New 
Testament  of  Jesus  Christ,  venerated  hy  the  Primitive  Chris- 
tian Churches  during  the  first  four  centuries,  hut  since,  after 
violent  disputations,  forbidden  hy  the  Bishops  of  Nicene  Coun- 
cil, in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Constantine.''^  It  would  seem  a 
sufficient  refutation  of  the  pretense,  that  these  two  title-pages 
be  held  up  in  open  contradiction  of  each  other.  The  first  title 
affirins  that  the  writings  were  spjurious;  the  second  denies  the 
admission,  insisting  that  they  are  historical!  The  claim  that 
any  "  violent  disputation"  whatever  occurred  respecting  receiv- 
ing any  books  into  the  Sacred  Canon,  in  the  Council  of  Nicsea, 
is  altogether  fabulous.  Mr.  Hone  was  at  that  time  an  ardent 
adversary  of  Christianity ;  but  he  is  said  to  have  since  regret- 
ted the  publication  of  his  book  in  the  form  given,  and  with  the 
object  of  its  issue.  He  represented  that  our  Scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament  were  selected  out  of  a  large  number  of  other 
works  on  the  same  subject,  of  equal  worth  and  acceptability  ; 
and  that  the  selection  was  made  arbitrarily  by  ignorant  and 
incompetent  persons,  who  were  unworthy  of  our  confidence 
His  work  was  offered  as  an  answer  to  his  own  question :  "  After 
the  writings  contained  in  the  New  Testament  were  selected 
from  the  numerous  Gospels  and  Epistles,  what  became  of  the 
books  that  were  rejected  by  the  compilers?"  Mr.  Hone  also 
cites  an  old  fable  of  the  Dark  Ages,  "a  mediaeval  story,"*  which 
originated  centuries  after  the  Nicene  Council,  to  the  effect 
that  the  selection  of  our  Canonical  New  Testament  was  "made 

♦Indorsed  by  Hackel,  in  Riddle  of  the  Universe,  p.  827. 


652         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


by  a  miracle;  that  a  number  of  books  were  placed  upon  and 
under  a  given  table ;  that  the  party  in  charge  then  prayed  over 
the  matter  and  retired  for  the  night ;  that  in  the  morning  it 
was  found  that  the  right  books  had  of  themselves  jumped  upon 
the  table,  and  the  wrong  books  had  gone  under  the  table ;  and 
that  the  Sacred  Canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  thus  settled! 
Now,  surprising  to  say,  this  credulous  and  superstitious  Mr. 
Hone  found  readers  just  as  gullible  as  himself,  who  believed 
that  this  fable  was  a  fact !  This  man,  however,  grows  sus- 
picious that  his  position  is  untenable,  and  shifts  his  ground. 
After  citing  Jortin's  opinion  on  the  supposed  violence  of  that 
Council,  he  intimates  that  if  the  selection  of  our  Canon  did  not 
actually  occur  as  descrihed,  it  was  made  hy  the  peo])le  no  more 
entitled  to  respect  than  were  the  memhers  of  that  Council!  In 
this,  Mr.  Hone  yields  his  former  claim  as  entirely  fictitious, 
and  makes  another  affirmation  equally  groundless.  He  then 
furnishes  his  own  preferred  apoci'yphal  Gospels,  Acts,  and 
Epistles,  having  shaped  the  documents  conformably  in  chapters 
and  verses  with  the  Canonical  Books ;  and  in  this  particular 
attempts  to  do  what  he  charges  upon  the  Council  as  having 
done — attempts  to  perpetrate  a  fraud  upon  the  world ! 

It  is  in  place  now  to  consider  the  proofs  that  the  Nicene 

Council  entertained   no  proposition  whatever  respecting  the 

Canon  of  the  New  Testament.    The  first  authority 

§436.  The  •' 

Historical     to  be  citcd  is  that  of  Professor  George  Salmon, 
Canon.       ^  j^ ^  -p  -^  g^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  University  of  Berlin, 

now  Provost  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  in  his  Historical  In- 
troduction to  the  Books  of  the  N'ew  Testament.  Eeferring  to 
this  apocryphal  account  of  the  origin  of  our  Canon,  he  re- 
marks : 

"I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  Council  of  Niaea  did  not  meddle  [at  all] 
with  the  subject  of  the  Canon,  and  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  in  discussing 
the  proofs.  .  .  .  The  fact  is,  that,  as  I  have  told  you,  authority  did  not 
meddle  with  the  question,  .  .  .  and  instead  of  this  abstentation 
weakening  the  authority  of  our  sacred  books,  the  result  has  been  that 
the  great  majority  have  higher  authority  than  if  their  claim  rested  on 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  653 

the  decision  of  any  Council,  however  venerable.  They  rest  on  the  spon- 
taneous consent  of  the  whole  Christian  world,  the  Churches  the  most  remote 
agreeing  independently  to  do  honor  to  the  same  books.  Some  of  the  books 
which  Mr.  Hone  printed  as  left  out  '  by  the  compilers  of  our  Canon/ 
were  not  in  existence  when  the  Canon  was  established  ;  and  the  best  of 
the  others  is  separated  in  the  judgment  of  any  sober  man,  by  a  wide 
interval  from  those  which  we  account  Canonical."  ^^ 

Bishop  B.  F.  Westcott,  than  whom  there  is  no  higher  crit- 
ical authority  of  the  past  century  on  the  subject  of  The 
Canon  of  the  New  Testament^  says : 

"  The  first  Synod  at  which  the  books  of  the  Bible  were  made  the  sub- 
ject of  a  special  ordinance,  was  that  of  Laodicea  [about  A.  D.  365],  in 
Phrygia  Pacatiana.  .  .  .  Neither  in  this  [Nicene  Council], nor  in  the 
following  Councils,  were  the  Scriptures  themselves  ever  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion. They  underlie  all  controversy  as  a  sure  foundation,  known  and 
immovable."  "  Scripture  was  the  source  from  which  the  champions  and 
assailants  of  the  orthodox  faith  derived  their  premises."  " 

Since  the  Scriptures  were  the  basis  of  discussion,  and  not 
the  subject  discussed,  it  is  obvious  that,  at  some  earlier  time 
and  by  some  other  mode,  our  Canon  was  established  as  the 
basis.  The  sanction  as  well  as  the  sanctity  of  these  sacred 
books  must  be  discovered  in  the  immediate  relations  existing 
between  the  apostolic  writers  and  those  persons  and  Churches 
to  whom  the  writings,  in  the  first  instance,  were  handed  or 
sent  by  the  respective  authors.  How  could  it  be  otherwise? 
The  conditions  for  securing  acceptance  were  ample  to  satisfy 
the  most  critical ;  but  they  were  at  the  farthest  remove  from 
a  Churchly  Council, 

Bishop  Westcott  again  remarks: 

"That  a  book  should  be  '  acknowledged'  as  Canonical,  it  was  requi- 
site that  its  authenticity  should  be  undisputed  [universally],  and  that  its 
author  should  have  been  possessed  of  apostolic  power ;  if  it  were  supposed 
to  fail  in  satisfying  either  of  these  conditions,  then  it  was  'disputed,' 
however  well  it  satisfied  the  other  [condition]."  ^ 

The  first  public  cognizance  given  the  Canon  was  that  of 
the  small  Synod  of  Laodicea,  "  a  gathering  of  the  clergy  from 

^ojntrod.  pp.  175, 176.  »  The  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  429,  430,  431. 

>2  76.  421. 

42 


654         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

parts  of  Lydia  and  Plirygia,"  composed  of  thirty-two  members. 
„  ^  „  „       ,      Thev  did  not  attempt  to  determine  what  books 

§437.  Synod  -^  ^ 

of  were  to  be  held  as  Canonical,   but  they  took 

Laodicea.  , .  /.  77       -        7   /?  •  77* 

action  jormaUy  to  aejine^  tn  a  pubttc  manner y 
those  books  which  historically  had  been  accepted  and  recog- 
nized as  Canonical  from  the  time  that  they  were  first  pub- 
lished. That  is,  the  Synod  did  not  make  any  selection  of  the 
sacred  hooks  at  all,  hut  for  certain  reasons  catalogued  the  hooks 
as  having  heen  Canonical  from  the  heginning.  The  effect  of 
this  action  was  to  give  publicity,  emphasis,  and  confirmation  to 
the  Canon  as  originally  established  hy  the  apostles,  which  until 
then  had  never  had  the  formality  of  a  public  declaration  hy  the 
Church.  Now,  evidently,  to  ratify  a  given  matter,  is  not  to 
originate  it  j  and  merely  to  give  it  puhlic  utterance  is  not  to 
make  a  puhlic  selection  of  literature.  The  Synod  of  Laodicea 
did  not  create  the  sacred  Canon.  It  reaffrined  the  universal 
consensus  of  the  Church  from,  the  time  of  the  apostles  for  three 
centuries.     There  its  function  ceased. 

The  immediate  occasion  for  cataloguing  the  sacred  books 

and  giving  public  announcement  of  the  Canon,  as  was  done  at 

Laodicea,  was   the  character  of   the  literature 

§438.  The  Oc-  '  n  1       1    •  i  • 

casion  for  which  had  appeared  and  claimed  a  rivalship  in 
Such  Action.  ^q,^q  sense.  Works  of  fiction  purporting  to  give 
the  life  of  Christ;  spurious  Epistles  bearing  the  forged  names 
of  the  apostles,  as  well  as  the  corrupted  and  mutilated  Scrip- 
tures which  the  heretics  had  produced,  necessitated  such  a 
movement.  Otherwise  it  was  in  the  power  of  any  impostor 
to  circulate  and  palm  off  these  apocryphal  and  fictitious  writ- 
ings upon  the  unwary  as  being  apostolical  and  Canonical.  To 
protect  the  Church  of  Christians,  especially  the  converts  and 
those  wishing  to  become  such,  and  all  Christian  communities, 
against  fraud  in  all  matters  involving  tlie  sacred  faith  in 
Christ,  it  was  indispensable  that  the  distinction  should  be 
made  known  and  be  preserved  inviolate  between  this  sacred 
and  secular  literature.    In  consequence,  it  is  said  that  no  apoc- 


Manuscripts — Aversions — Canon.  655 

ryphal  writing  ever  found  place  on  the  catalogue  of  Canonical 
Books,  or  was  ever  referred  to  or  quoted  as  being  authorita- 
tive by  either  friends  or  foes  of  Christianity  for  many  centu- 
ries. The  apocryphal  Scriptures  were  not  in  existence  until 
from  the  middle  of  the  second  century  and  down  to  the  fifth. 
So  the  Canonical  Scriptures  were  long  before  recognized  by 
the  universal  Church,  and  their  character  and  authority  thor- 
oughly established  before  the  spurious  literature  appeared. 
The  Apostolic  Fathers,  named  Clement,  Barnabas,  Hermas, 
Ignatius,  and  Polycarp,  were  the  first  writers  after  the  apos- 
tles; and  they  constantly  allude  to  these  Canonical  writings, 
and  to  no  others,  as  authoritative  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  Church  and  the  Christian  religion.  No  apocryphal  docu- 
Tuent  ever  found  place  in  the  sacred  Canon. 

That  the  Christian  communities  had  steadfastly  made  this 
discrimination  between  the  sacred  and  the  secular  literature 
is  evident  from  facts  occurring-  during  the  terrible 

°  °  §439.  This  Dis- 

persecution  m  the  joint  reign  of  Diocletian  and  tmction 
Maximian  in  303.  The  government  proposed  iii^^strated. 
the  extermination  of  Christianity,  and,  for  the  first  time  in 
history,  required  that  the  Christicins  shoidd  hring  forward  and 
publicly  burn  their  sacred  boohs,  under  penalty  of  themselves 
being  burned.  The  persecution  derived  its  chief  inspiration 
and  force  from  Hierocles,  proconsul  of  Bithynia  at  that  date, 
and  afterwards  at  Alexandria  (306),  a  man  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  Canonical  literature.  Some  Christians 
brought  forward  spurious  books  and  burned  them,  which  was 
satisfactory  to  the  inquisitorial  magistrates;  but  their  Christian 
brethren  viewed  the  procedure  as  highly  wrong  and  deceptive, 
merely  to  avoid  persecution,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  call  them 
'■Hraitors^''^^  A  schism  followed  and  a  controversy  which 
lasted  for  three  hundred  years.     Dr.  Schaflf  observes : 

"  In  303  Diocletian  issued  in  rapid  succession  three  edicts,  each  more 
severe  than  its  predecessor.    Maximian  issued  the  fourth,  the  worst  of 

13  Traditores. 


656         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

all,  on  April  30,  304.  Christian  churches  were  to  be  destroyed  ;  all  copies 
of  the  Bible  were  to  be  burned ;  all  Christians  were  to  be  deprived  of 
public  office  and  civil  rights ;  and  last  of  all,  all  without  exception  were 
to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  upon  the  pain  of  death.  Pretext  for  this  severity 
was  afiforded  by  the  occurrence  of  fire  twice  in  the  palace  of  Nicomsedia, 
where  Diocletian  resided."  " 

This  wide  destruction  of  the  Christian  Scriptures  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  we  have  at  present  no  earlier  Greek  manu- 
scripts transmitted  to  us  of  the  New  Testament  than  those 
dating  325  A.  D. ;  namely,  the  Codex  Vaticanus  and  the 
Codex  Sinaiticus.  In  reference  to  this  persecution  Bishop 
Westcott  again  remarks : 

"The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  formed  into  distinct  collec- 
tions— '  a  quaternion  of  Gospels  ;'  '  fourteen  Epistles  of  St.  Paul ;'  'seven 
Catholic  Epistles.'  Both  in  the  West  and  in  the  East  the  persecutor 
had  done  his  work,  and  a  New  Testament  rose  complete  from  the  fires 
which  were  kindled  to  consume  it.  That  it  rested  on  no  authoritative 
decision  [of  a  Council]  is  simply  a  proof  that  none  was  needed ;  and  in 
the  next  chapter  it  will  be  seen  that  Conciliar  Canons  introduced  no 
innovations,  but  merely  proposed  to  preserve  the  tradition  which  had  been 
handed  down."  "But  .  .  .  the  ordeal  of  persecution  left  the  African 
Churches  in  possession  of  a  perfect  New  Testament."^* 

Yery  many  catalogues  of  these  Scriptures  have  come  down 

to  us ;  some  incomplete,  others  almost  perfect,  and  all  made  at 

§440.  cata-    different  dates,  by  different  persons.  Churches,  or 

ttf^N^^^     Councils.     Those  which  agree  exactly  with  our 

Testament.    Canon  now,  are  eleven  in  number.     They  are  here 

presented  in  their  chronological  order,  as  follows : 

1.  That  of  Augustine  (A.  D.  355),  a  man  of  powerful  influ- 
ence and  great  activity  in  the  establishment  of  the  collective 
Canon  in  the  Western  Church. 

2.  That  of  Athanasius  the  Great  (d.  373),  "the  Father  of 
Orthodoxy,"  in  a  Festal  Epistle,  gives  our  Canonical  Books. 

3.  That  of  Philastrius  (387),  Bishop  of  Brescia,  Italy,  is 
also  identical. 

4.  That  of  Jerome  (390),  a  man  of  rarest  talents  and  schol- 
arly attainments;  a  remarkable  Biblicist,  possessing  extraor- 
dinary influence  in  the  Western  Church. 

^*JIist.  Chrint.  Church,  II,  66.  i*  Canon  of  N.  T.,  pp.  42.5,  414. 


Manusckipts — Versions — Canon.  657 

5.  That  of  the  Third  Council  of  Carthage  (397)  at  Hyppo, 
a  ratification. 

6.  That  of  Epiphanius  (403),  the  Patriarch  of  Orthodoxy, 
Bishop  of  Constantiathe,  capital  of  Cyprus,  in  his  larger  work, 
against  Heresies. 

7.  That  of  Oelasius  (405),  which  declares  our  Canonical 
Books. 

8.  That  of  Rwfmus  (d.  410),  of  Aquileia,  Italy,  whose  list 
is  identical  with  ours. 

9.  That  of  Innocens  1  (d.  417),  a  Roman  bishop,  attests 
our  Canon. 

10.  That  of  Leontius  (590),  a  Byzantine  by  birth,  and 
Bishop  of  Cyprus. 

11.  That  of  Isidore  (d.  636),  of  Seville,  leader  in  the  Span- 
ish Church,  and  president  of  two  Councils,  contains  the  same. 

The  Council  of  Trent  (A.  D,  1546)*  was  distinctively  a 
Roman  Catholic  affair.  It  was  the  only  Council  that  under- 
took to  construct  a  Canon  for  themselves,  and 

'  §441.  The 

this  related  exclusively  to  the  Old  Testament.  councu 
The  object  of  having  the  Council  was  to  condemn 
the  Protestant  principles  and  doctrines.  For  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  the  Church,  the  books  of  the  Bible  were 
made  an  article  of  faith.  While  this  Council  did  not  touch 
the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  it  did  add  the  several 
Apocryphal  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  put  them  upon 
the  same  plane  Avith  the  Scriptures — books  which  had  never 
claimed  to  be  sacred  or  Canonical.  This  was  a  matter  of  deep 
offense  and  stern  indignation  on  the  part  of  Protestantism, 
which  rejected  the  decree  outright.  On  February  15,  1546, 
the  Council  of  Trent  passed  the  decree,  and  published  it  on 
the  8th  of  April  following,  reading  thus: 

"The  Holy  and  Ecumenical  Council  of  Trent,  .  .  .  following 
the  example  of  the  orthodox  Fathers,  receives  and  venerates  all  the 

*  May  1, 1564,  was  the  date  assigned  the  decrees  were  made  binding.  (Encycl. 
Britt.  Vol.  XXIII,  585,  Phll'a  edition.  Westcott  assigns  the  decree  to  April  8, 1546i» 
when  the  decree  was  flnaUy  adopted.    (Canon  of  N.  T.,  p.  476.) 


658         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  .  .  .  and  also  traditions  per- 
taining to  faith  and  conduct,  .  .  .  and  with  equal  feeling  of  devo- 
tion and  reverence."  (Here  is  given  a  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments ;  and  the  Apocryphal  books  named  Tobit, 
Judith,  Wisdom,  Ecclesiasticus,  and  First  and  Second  Maccabees  are 
added  as  sacred).  "If,  however,  any  one  does  not  receive  the  entire 
books  with  all  their  parts  as  they  are  accustomed  to  be  read  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  the  Old  Latin  Vulgate  edition  [Jerome's  with 
additions]  as  sacred  and  Canonical,  and  knowingly  and  wittingly  de- 
spises the  aforesaid  traditions,  let  him  be  Anathema." 

Martin  Luther  condemned  this  action  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  unqualifiedly ;  he  said  "  A  Council  can  not  make  that  to 
be  Scripture  which  is  not  Scripture  by  nature."  John  Calvin 
denounced  the  decree  as  "  a  most  pernicious  error,  [viz.]  that 
the  Scriptures  have  only  so  much  right  as  is  conceded  to  them 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  Church;  as  though  the  eternal  and  in- 
violable truth  of  God  depends  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  men ! " 
Bishop  Westcott  remarks : 

"  This  fatal  decree  .  .  .  was  ratified  by  fifty-three  prelates, 
among  whom  there  was  not  one  German,  not  one  scholar  distinguished 
for  historical  learning,  not  one  who  was  fitted  by  special  study  for  the 
examination  of  the  subject,  in  which  the  truth  could  only  be  determined 
by  the  voice  of  antiquity.  How  completely  the  decision  was  opposed  to 
the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  original  judgments  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Churches,  how  far  in  the  doctrinal  equalization  of  the  disputed  and 
acknowledged  books  of  the  Old  Testament  it  was  at  variance  with  the 
traditional  opinion  of  the  West,  how  absolutely  unprecedented  was  the 
conversion  of  an  ecclesiastical  usage  into  an  article  of  belief,  will  be  seen 
from  the  evidence  which  has  already  been  adduced."  ^^ 

So  far  respecting  Councils  and  the  settlement  of  the  Sacred 
Canon. 

If  the  Sacred  Canon  did  not  originate  in  the  authority  of 

any  Council,  it  must  have  had  its  origin  directly  between  the 

writer  and  the  parties  addressed.     The  Evangel- 

§442.  How  ^  ,  ° 

Books  Bec5ame    ists  handed  the  Gospels  m  person  to  those  who 

Canonical.      ^^^    requested    them   to   be   apostolically   and 

authoritatively  written.     The  Epistles,  going  out  to  distant 

countries,  addressed  to  Churches,  required  to  be  carefully  and 

>»  WcstcoU's  Canon  of  the  N.  T.,  ■iT7,  478. 


Manuscripts — Versions — Canon.  659 

satisfactorily  authenticated  to  find  acceptance.  They  must 
come  properly  authenticated  as  apostolical,  or  the  writing  was 
held  in  "dispute;"  not  condemned  absolutely,  but  held  in  sus- 
pense until  the  evidence  satisfactory  was  furnished.  Only  per- 
sons of  eminence  in  the  Church  were  intrusted  with  bearing  to 
the  Churches  an  apostolical  writing.  The  means  and  methods 
of  travel  for  the  conveying  and  circulating  of  sacred  books 
were  extremely  slow.  If  a  given  document  was  returned  for 
inspection  and  for  the  proper  guarantees,  much  time  Avas  some- 
times consumed  before  the  document  reached  its  ultimate  des- 
tination and  was  universally  accepted.  Individuals  could  not 
traverse  alone  mountains  and  seas ;  they  must  delay  for  cara- 
vans and  company.  They  must  pass  from  one  nation  to  another 
speaking  a  different  language.  Like  the  apostles  in  their  mis- 
sionary journeys,  they  were  exposed  in  city  and  country  to 
dangers,  on  mountain  and  on  sea  to  disease  and  robbers,  and 
everywhere  were  "in  deaths  oft."  It  is  therefore  easy  to  un- 
derstand why  a  few  of  the  smaller  Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse 
were  slow  in  coming  to  hand  and  receiving  acknowledgment, 
especially  in  case  they  were  wanting  in  any  of  the  indispen- 
sable requisites  for  their  verification ;  for  no  hook  was  consid- 
ered entitled  to  a  place  in  the  Sacred  Canon  tintil  all  the  Churches 
of  Christendom  had  independently^  and  ujponjyroper  guarantees^ 
hecome  entirely  satisfied  to  give  it  recognition.  Thus  the  Collect- 
ive Canon  was  organized.  It  sometimes  occurred  that  a  book, 
having  justified  its  claim  with  some  Churches,  was  "  disputed  " 
in  other  Churches  where  the  claim  had  not  yet  been  properly 
safeguarded.  But  it  was  not  held  to  be  Canonical  without 
universal  consent.  Hence  the  occasion  for  long  delays  in  the 
acknowledgment  of  its  apostolicity.  Paul  was  extremely  care- 
ful in  that  his  name  appeared  in  the  text  at  the  beginning  of 
every  Epistle,  and  often  at  the  end  in  connection  with  saluta- 
tions, together  with  his  personal  and  private  "  token  in  every 
Epistle."  All  this  delay  over  a  "disputed"  writing,  so  far 
from  creating  suspicion  respecting  its  claim,  is  a  commendation 


660         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

of  the  critical  care  which  finally,  on  sufficient  warrant  of  evi- 
dence, assigned  it  a  place  in  the  Sacred  Canon  by  the  universal 
consensus  of  the  Churches. 

In  the  first  instance,  all  Christendom  placed  its  ancient  seal 
upon  each  individual  book,  and  again  upon  the  whole  collect- 
S443  The  ^^^^Y^  before  these  documents  received  sacred 
Conclusion,  canonicity.  Moreover,  it  is  a  grateful  circum- 
stance to  us  that  these  writings  have  been  transmitted  to  our 
hands  with  evidence  so  multiform  and  conclusive  of  their  claim 
to  authenticity  and  apostolicity.  After  all  the  early  attempts 
to  corrupt,  and  mutilate  •  or  absolutely  destroy  these  Scrip- 
tures by  burning,  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  satisfaction  to  know 
that,  kept  in  the  custody  of  the  Church  with  such  jealous  care, 
they  have  come  down  to  us  with  marks  of  their  imperishable  pu- 
rity and  truth.  "Written  originally  in  Greek,  those  ancient  manu- 
scripts which  we  now  have  in  our  possession  attest  the  identity 
of  their  contents  with  our  own  sacred  books.  Translated  into 
other  languages  and  dialects,  the  ancient  versions  tell  the  story 
of  preservation  from  corruption  and  destruction.  Persons  of 
eminence,  having  these  documents  in  their  possession  for  daily 
use  in  study,  made  constant  and  copious  reference  and  citations 
in  their  own  writings.  The  adversaries  of  Christianity  in 
their  active  assaults  upon  the  system,  holding  in  their  hands 
these  Canonical  Books,  defiantly  charged  the  authorship  of  the 
writings  upon  the  apostles,  giving  each  his  proper  name. 
Eleven  Catalogues  extending  along  the  centuries,  with  a  view 
to  mark  and  preserve  the  discrimination  between  the  sacred 
and  the  spurious,  between  the  apostolic  and  the  apocryphal, 
ratify  completely  our  own  Canon.  The  action  of  the  early 
Councils  to  make  public  the  same  distinction,  also  confirmed 
and  announced  what  had  always  been  the  consensus  of  the 
Church  respecting  the  apostolical  authenticity  of  its  Scrip- 
tures— all  attesting  singly  and  unitedly  the  just  claims  of  these 
writings  to  sacred  canonicity. 

Then,  most  of  all,  there  has  existed  an  institution  with  a 


Manuscripts — Yeesions — Canon.  661 

history  of  unbroken  continuity,  possessing  an  indestructible 
character  and  power  in  the  world,  which  has  been  the  watch- 
ful custodian  of  these  Scriptures  from  the  first.  Its  witness  is 
invincible.  That  institution  is  the  great  Christian  Church. 
!From  the  founding  of  Christianity,  whatever  of  character  for 
power  and  glory  it  has  possessed  before  mankind,  it  has  pro- 
fessedly derived  from  its  Founder,  whose  personality  and 
life  are  the  subject  of  the  contents  of  these  Scriptures.  No 
other  works  of  like  antiquity  have  come  down  to  us  so  com- 
pletely inwrought  and  overwrought  with  the  very  seals  and 
stamp  of  truth  and  apostolicity  in  the  recognition  of  the 
wisest  and  most  critical  men.  But  the  complete  and  final  test 
of  the  Divine  origin  of  these  writings  is,  that  it  brings  to  our 
spiritual  nature  supreme  satisfactions  just  where  all  else 
fails — that  which  rules  us  by  a  Divine  right.  It  offers  a 
gracious  challenge  to  every  man's  consciousness  to  which  it 
appeals.  "If  any  man  wills  to  do  His  will,  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrines  whether  they  are  of  God." 


APPENDIX. 

I.  ExcuKSUS  A.  JosEPHUs's  Testimony  Respecting  Jesus  Christ. 

II.  Excursus  B.  Pliny's  State  Paper  to  the  Emperor  Trajan. 

III.  Excursus  C.  Logia  of  the  Lord,  or  the  "  Sayings  op  Jesus." 

rV.  Excursus  D.  The  Didache,  or  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 

Apostles." 

V.  Excursus  E.  The  Muratorian  Canon;   Description  and  Con- 
tent. 

VI.  Excursus  F.  The  Jewish  Talmud  :    Expurgated   Editions  re- 
specting Christ. 

VII.  Excursus  G.  The  Toledoth  Jeshu,  or  "  Gospel  According  to 
THE  Jews." 

a)  Exhibit  A,     On  the  Chronology  of  the  New  Testament. 

/3)  Exhibit  B.  On  the  High  Priests  and  the  Procurators  of  Pales- 
tine. 

y)  Exhibit  C.  On  Critical  Opinions  respecting  Chronology  of  the 
Testimonies . 

S)  Exhibit  D.  Table  of  Comparative  Contemporaries  of  the  Sev- 
eral Witnesses. 

e)  Exhibit  E.  Chronological  Table  of  the  Content  of  the  Entire 
Work. 


663 


EXCURSUS  A. 
Testimony  of  Josephus  concerning  Jesus. 

Tivtrai  di  Karb.  rovTov  t6v  xP^'^o"  'It/coOj-,  ffo<pbi;-  dm^p,  €(ye  &v8pa  airhv  X^7eii' 
XPV-  'H»'  ydp  irapadd^uiv  epyuv  iroL7]Trig- ,  SiSdcTKaXo^  dvdpwiruv  tQjv  rfiovi}  rdXrjd^ 
Se^o/jL^vuv.  Kal  iroWoii^  p^v  \ov5aLov<^ ,  ttoXXoi)?",  5^  Kal  tov  'EXXtjukoC  etn]ya,yeTo. 
'0  XP'""''^?"  ol>TO^  Tip.  Koi  avrbv  ivdei^et  tQv  vpuTuv  dvdpuv  irap  rj/uv  aravpifi 
iiTiTiTip.riK6To<^  ntXaroK,  oiiK  eiramavro  oiyi  irpurov  avrbv  dyaTrri(ravT€(;-,  i(pdv7)  ykp 
oi/TO??-  rplTTfv  ex^"  Vf^^P'"-''  '"'dXi.v  fwi',  twv  Oeioov  ir po(j)i)T Cov  radrd  re  Kal  fiXXa  p,vpla 
davpLdffia  trepl  avrov  elprjKdruv.  Etf  4tl  vvv  tQv  xP"'"'''aJ'w»'  dwb  roOde  uvonaffp^vuv 
oiK  itr^Xiire  t6  <f)v\ov. 

[translation.] 
"  About  this  time  arises  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  indeed  it  be  right  to 
call  him  a  man  ;  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  Teacher  of  men 
accepting  the  truth  with  pleasure.  There  followed  him  many  of  the 
Jews  as  well  as  also  many  of  the  Greeks.  He  was  the  Christ.  And  at 
the  instigation  of  the  chief  men  among  us,  Pilate  had  condemned  him 
to  the  cross ;  those  having  loved  him  at  the  first  did  not  cease.  For 
he  appeared  to  them  alive  again  on  the  third  day,  the  divine  prophet 
having  proclaimed  both  these  things,  and  also  ten  thousand  other 
wonderful  things  concerning  him.  And  that  class  of  those  called  Chris- 
tians after  him  are  not  extinct  unto  this  present  time."  (Jewish  An- 
tiquities, Bk.  xviii,  c.  3,  §  3.) 

DISCUSSION. 

Respecting  the  authenticity  and  integrity  of  this  celebrated  pai'a- 
graph  in  the  writings  of  Josephus,  there  has  been  considerable  contro- 
versy among  modern  critics.     Opinions  have  divided  into  three  classes: 

1)  Those  holding  that  the  entire  passage  is  an  unqualified  interpola- 
tion. 

2)  Those  contending  that  it  is  authentic  in  part,  but  certain  parts 
interpolated. 

3)  Those  who  maintain  that  the  paragraph  in  its  entirety  is  abso- 
lutely authentic. 

It  is  an  historical  question,  and  must  be  treated  as  such  upon  the 
evidence  of  the  case,  without  preconceived  conclusions.  After  travers- 
ing the  grounds  pro  and  con,  the  reader  will  determine  for  himself  the 
evidential  value  of  each  claim  cited. 

1.  The  Passage  is  an  Interpolation. 

1.  It  interrupts  the  general  narrative.  This  is  a  question  of  fact,  and 
must  be  settled  by  a  reference  to  the  paragraph  in  its  connection  as  it 

665 


666  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testaiment. 


stands.  The  author  is  tracing  the  several  procedures  of  Pilate  in  the 
two  preceding  sections,  which  naturally  suggest  and  lead  up  to  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus  as  his  most  iniquitous  act.  With  much  more  propriety 
might  the  section  which  follows  this  be  regarded  as  a  digression  ;  never- 
theless, it  has  never  yet  been  so  claimed.  Luke's  reference  to  Herodias 
(Gospel,  iii,  19,  20)  is  certainly  very  much  more  of  a  digression  from  the 
direct  line  of  discourse  than  is  this  passage  now  in  question ;  yet  no  one 
on  that  account  has  even  suspected  the  digression  in  Luke  of  being  an 
intei'polation.     Obviously  the  fact  does  not  justify  the  inference. 

2.  It  is  incompatible  with  the  views  of  a  Jew  thus  to  refer  to  Jesus.  That 
is  to  say,  "  If  it  be  right  to  call  him  a  man,  ...  a  doer  of  many 
wonderful  works,"  but  especially  to  say  that  "  He  is  the  Christ,"  would, 
by  necessary  implication,  make  Josephus,  a  stanch  Jew,  a  Christian. 
Upon  the  contrary,  it  is  maintained  that  such  a  conclusion  is  by  no 
means  necessitated.  Josephus  was  an  historian  of  liberal  mind  and 
characteristics  towai-ds  others,  always  ti-eating  opposing  views  with  due 
consideration  and  courtesy.  There  were  other  stanch  Jews  of  that  period 
who  went  quite  as  far  as  Josephus  in  their  references  to  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  but  were  never  cognized  as  having  become  Christians  on  that 
account.  For  instance,  Nicodemus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  third 
officer  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  in  an  interview  with  Jesus  by  night  said: 
"  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  Teacher  sent  from  God,  for  no  man 
can  do  these  miracles  which  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him." 
(John  iii,  2.)  Nicodemus  also  defended  Christ  in  the  Sanhedrin,  and 
seems  to  have  silenced  His  enemies.  (John  vii,  45-53.)  But  there  is  no 
evidence  that  Nicodemus  became  a  Christian.  So  also  Gamaliel,  "  a 
Pharisee,  a  doctor  of  the  law,  had  in  honor  of  all  people,"  stood  for  the 
defense  of  the  apostles  in  the  presence  of  the  Sanhedrin,  opposing  all 
violent  measures  being  decreed  against  them  (Acts  v,  34-40) ;  but  it  was 
never  claimed  that  he  professed  Christianity. 

The  strongest  expression  made  by  Josephus  favoring  Jesus  was  that 
"  He  was  the  Christ."  This  may  seem  to  convey  more  than  was  really 
meant.  In  another  place  this  writer  alludes  to  Jesus  when  mentioning 
that  Ananus  brought  "  James  "  before  the  Sanhedrin,  "the  brother  of 
Jesns  who  was  called  the  Christ"  rbv  ddeXcpbv  'Iijo-oO  roO  Xeyofi^vov  xpt<'"ro'' 
'Id/cw/Sov  tfvo/xa  aiirifi).  So  Renan  claims:  "  Instead  of  xP'^^'^^r  ovTo<r  vv  ["  He 
was  Christ  "],  it  was  certainly  xP^^'^^r  ovtoi;-  iXey^ro  he  was  called  Christ." 
(Life  of  Jesus,  Introd.  p.  14,  note.)  The  obvious  sense,  then,  would  be 
that  among  the  many  who  rose  among  the  Jews  claiming  to  be  the 
Christ,  as  Jesus  had  predicted,  this  one  was  pre-eminently  called  the 
Christ  by  the  people.  So  Pilate  placed  the  superscription  upon  the  cross  : 
"This  is  Jesus  the  King  of  the  Jews  "(Matt,  xxvii,  37),  not  meaning 
literally  that  he  was  a  monarch,  but  that  he  was  called  a  King.  (Com- 
pare John  xviii,  37  ;  xix,  14, 15  ;  Luke  xix,  38,  etc.)  Pilate,  being  himself 
the  Roman  procurator  ruling  the  Jews,  knew  perfectly  well  that  Jesus 
was  not  an  earthly  king,  and  did  not  claim  earthly  royalty. 


Appendix.  667 

3.  TJie  passage  was  not  quoted  for  more  than  two  centuries  after  Josephus 
had  published  his  work  on  Jeiuish  Antiquities.  To  this  it  is  replied :  Is  it 
necessary  that  a  given  passage  shall  have  been  quoted  at  all  in  order  to 
verify  its  authenticity?  Citations  clearly  prove  the  existence  of  the 
original  documents,  but  silence  proves  nothing.  Tacitus,  the  greatest  of 
Roman  historians,  who  wrote  about  A.  D.  110,  is  not  cited  for  the  first 
two  hundred  years.  Thucydides,  the  greatest  of  the  Gi-eek  historians, 
who  wrote  B.  C.  470-403,  is  said  not  to  have  been  quoted  for  the  first  five 
hundred  years !  Both  Thucydides  and  Herodotus  wrote  about  the 
Romans,  but  neither  mentions  Rome,  the  old-world  capital.  Tacitus 
and  Strabo  (A.  D.  18),  both  wrote  of  the  Jews,  but  neither  one  mentions 
the  Jewish  sect  known  as  the  Essenes,  though  they  are  mentioned  both 
by  Josephus  and  also  the  Jew  Philo.  Does  silence  justify  the  belief  that 
the  Essenes  did  not  exist?  Eusebius,  a  friend  and  favorite  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  is  silent  respecting  the  death  of  Constantine's 
son  named  Crispus.  Josephus,  pre-eminently  the  Jewish  historian,  omits 
the  edict  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  which  banished  the  Jews  from  Rome, 
although  the  circumstance  is  mentioned  both  by  the  Roman  Suetonius 
and  by  Luke.  Origen  (248)  refers  to  the  fact  that  Josephus  bore  "  wit- 
ness to  John  as  having  been  a  Baptist,"  and  adds:  "  Now  this  writer, 
although  not  a  believer  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  in  seeking  after  the  cause 
of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  [A.  D.  70],  .  .  .  ought  to  have  said  that  the 
conspiracy  against  Jesus  was  the  cause  of  these  calamities  befalling  the 
people,  since  they  put  todeath  Christ,  being  prophesied  of,"  etc.  (Origen 
contra  Celsum,  Bk.  i,  c  47.)  And  again:  "It  is  wonderful  that  he  who 
had  not  received  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  should  ascribe  such  righteousness 
to  James,"  the  Lord's  brother.  (Commentary  on  Matthew  x,  17.)  Now 
the  curious  question  is  legitimated:  How  is  it  that  Origen  should  refer  re- 
peatedly to  Josephus' s  opinion  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  Josephus  had  never  written 
any  opinion  whatever  about  Jesus?     That  is  to  be  accounted  for. 

2.  The  Passage  is  Mostly  Genuine,  but  Partly  Interpolated. 

This  position  has  been  called  a  middle  gi'ound,  and  seems  to  be  con- 
ceived in  the  desire  of  compromising  the  difficulty  supposed.  This  view, 
however,  is  never  accompanied  by  any  facts  to  prove  the  historical  char- 
acter of  the  hypothesis.  Gieseler  thinks  the  passage  "  is  regarded  with 
the  greatest  probability  as  genuine,  but  interpolated."  He  brackets  the 
following  sentences  as  spurious,  but  offers  no  reason  whatever  for  the 
support  of  his  opinion,  viz.:  "If  it  be  right  to  call  Him  a  man" — "a 
teacher  of  such  men  as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure."  ..."  He 
was  the  Christ " — "  For  he  appeared  again  alive  on  the  third  day,  the 
divine  prophets  declaring  these  things,  and  also  ten  thousand  other 
wonderful  things  concerning  him."  These  eliminations  emasculate  the 
paragi'aph  of  all  its  power,  and  what  is  left  is  not  worth  the  place  it 
occupies!  Is  it  not  strange,  indeed,  that  so  creditable  a  writer  should 
take  such  liberties  with  an  historical  document,  without  a  single  fact 


G68         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

reason,  or  analogy  to  substantiate  his  proposition?  We  have  no  right  to 
believe  without  reason,  and  we  have  no  right  to  disbelieve  when  we  have 
the  sufficient  reason.  The  opinions  of  great  men  are  to  be  weighed  and 
respected  ;  but  mere  opinion  carries  no  authority  to  the  man  who  pro- 
poses to  think  for  himself.  Opinions  are  not  evidence,  and  can  not  be 
substituted  for  evidence.  Conclusions  are  too  often  the  expression  of 
inconsiderateness,  conjecture,  or  merest  prejudice,  without  fact  or 
reason  or  investigation  or  probability  to  support  them.  It  is  a  self-delu- 
sion to  believe  a  given  proposition  because  somebody  else  thinks  so. 

The  late  French  infidel,  R^nan,  conceded  much  when  he  wrote  of 
Josephus's  i-eferences  as  follows:  "  His  brief  notices  of  John  the  Baptist 
and  Judas  the  Gaulonite  are  dry  and  colorless.  .  .  I  think  the  passage 
on  Jesus  is  authentic.  It  is  perfectly  in  the  style  of  Josephus;  and  if  the 
historian  had  made  mention  of  Jesus,  it  would  have  been  in  that  way."  {Life 
of  Jesus,  Introd.  p.  13.) 

3.     The  Passage  in  its  Entirety  is  Genuine. 

So  say  Brethschneider,  Hauteville,  Schoedel,  Oberthtir,  Whiston, 
Bomert,  and  Bottger,  so  far  as  distinguished  opinions  go.  The  chief  rea- 
sons for  this  conclusion  are  these : 

1.  All  known  manuscripts  and  versions  of  Josephus's  works,  without  an 
exception,  contain  this  testimony  respecting  Jesus.  (See  Schaff,  Hist.  Ch. 
Church,  Vol.  I,  p.  92,  2d  edition;  also  his  Person  of  Christ,  p.  191,  note.) 
Now,  the  presence  of  this  famous  passage  in  every  existing  copy  of  his 
works,  in  every  language  in  which  it  is  found,  is  a  powerful  authenticative 
evidence  as  an  histoi-ical  evidence  on  an  historical  question,  which,  with 
nothing  in  opposition,  compels  belief.  The  answer  is  complete.  De- 
mand can  go  no  further.  No  fact  in  history  can  offer  a  better  testi- 
mony. This  fact  must  be  refuted  or  the  case  is  conclusive  in  itself. 
The  burden  of  proof  logically  falls  to  the  part  of  the  objector  to  the 
autlienticity  of  the  passage.  The  reply  to  this  is  that  "some  Christian 
hand  did  the  interpolating  in  multiplying  copies."  But  what  is  the 
proof  of  the  proposition?  Without  the  evidence  to  substantiate  the  claim, 
it  is  offering  the  merest  conjecture  as  proof,  which  is  inadmissible.  It  is 
an  historical  question,  and  it  must  be  treated  in  an  historical  manner. 
Conjectures  are  not  facts,  and  can  not  be  substituted  for  facts.  The 
New  Testament  was  also  copied  by  Christian  hands  ;  but  does  that  legiti- 
mate the  belief  that  they  vitiated  the  integrity  of  those  Scriptures? 
Eusebius  (A.  D.  315)  cites  this  passage  of  Josephus  twice,  without  the 
suspicion  that  it  was  in  any  wise  spurious.  It  had  never  been  ques- 
tioned. Not  only  so,  but  between  A.  D.  315  and  1440,  no  less  than 
twenty-two  writers  of  reputation,  mostly  histoi-ical,  cite  this  passage  as 
being  universally  considered  unquestioned  and  unquestionable.  (See 
Whiston's  Josephus,  App.  827-832.) 

2.  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  style  of  Josephus.  The  internal  evi- 
dence of  Josephus's  authorship  is  one  of  the  very  strongest  proofs  pos- 


Appendix.  669 

sible ;  a  point  which  seems  to  have  been  overlooked  in  the  particular 
referred  to.  His  characteristic  manner  of  expression  is  found  in  this 
paragraph,  and  of  itself  is  conclusive  of  its  genuineness.  A  favorite  and 
familiar  formula  of  expression  vpith  this  author  when  conveying  the  idea 
of  a  multitude,  is  "  mariy  ten  thousand  "  or  a  phrasing  closely  resem- 
bling it.  A  few  instances  taken  from  Josephus's  Antiquities,  and  also 
his  Roman-Jewish  Wars,  gathered  with  very  little  research— by  no 
means  exhaustive — will  amply  illustrate  the  characteristic  expression 
which  finds  place  in  the  paragraph  under  consideration.    Thus  we  read : 

1.  Though  he  [Herod]   were  encompassed  with   ten  thousand  dan- 

gers.'^    {Ant.  Bk.  xvii,  c.  8,  §  1.) 

2.  "  For  there  were  not  a  few  ten  thousands  of  this  people."    (76.  xv, 

3,  1.) 

3.  "A  great  many  ten  thousands  of  people  got  together."     (lb.  xvii, 

10,2.) 

4.  "At  this  time  were  ten  thousand  other  disorders  in  Judsea."    (lb. 

xvii,  10,4.) 

5.  "A  great  many   ten  thousands   of  Jews   met  Petronius."     (lb. 

xviii,  8,  3.) 

6.  "There  came  many  ten  thousands  of  Jews  to  Petronius."      (lb. 

xviii,  8,  2.) 

7.  "Jews     .     .     .     who  came  many  ten  thousands  in  number."    (lb. 

xviii,  9,  5.) 

8.  "  I  sent  him     .     .    .    many  <en  ^/lowsands  [Cori]  of  corn."    (Wars, 

i,  20,  1.) 

9.  "They  were    now  become  many  ten   thousands   of  armed   men." 

(lb.  ii,  21,  7.) 

10.  "  Till  ten  thousand  men  on  the  Jews'  side  lay  dead."     (lb.  iii,  2, 2.) 

11.  "Which  had  so  many  ten  thousands  of  men  to  fight  for  it."     [lb. 

vii,  8,  7.) 

12.  "The  Eomans     .     .     .    were  thus  destroying  ten  thousand  sev- 

eral ways."     (lb.  vii,  3,  1.) 

13.  John  "  filled  the  country  with  ten  thousand  instances  of  wicked- 

ness."    (lb.  vii,  8,  1.) 

14.  "  The  divine  prophets  had  foretold  these  and  ten  thousand  other 

wonderful  things  concerning  Him"  [viz.,  Christ].    (Antiq.  xviii, 
3,3.) 

Here  are  no  less  than  fourteen  characteristic  expressions  of  Josephus 
scattered  through  two  of  his  greatest  literary  works — too  many  instances 
to  be  considered  merely  accidental ;  are  all  these,  therefore,  inconclusive 
of  his  authorship?  The  phrase  "  ten  thousand,"  etc.,  which  occurs  also  in 
this  disputed  paragraph  respecting  Christ  and  his  crucifixion,  is  internal 
evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  passage.  Can  a  pai-allel  be  found 
in  any  two  productions  of  any  one  man,  of  equal  antiquity,  and  the  case 
be  spurious?    The  writer  evidences  his  authorship  with  ingrain  certi- 

43 


670         HisTOKicAL  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

tude.  The  citations  above  of  tJie  characteristic  language  of  Josephus' s 
authorship  are  too  obvious  to  be  overlooked,  too  numerous  to  be  accidental,  too 
identifying  to  be  reasonably  denied.  In  the  light  of  such  proof  can  any 
thoughtful  and  candid  mind  rest  in  the  conviction  that  this  famous 
passage  is  not  genuine?  Can  any  substantial  reason  be  adduced  to 
prove  that  it  is  an  interpolation?  One's  own  preconception  or  preju- 
dice has  no  right  to  a  place  in  such  investigation.  The  mere  opinions  of 
others,  without  the  reasons  given,  can  not  weigh  in  critical  inquiry.  For 
why  should  one  man  believe  a  proposition  merely  because  somebody  else 
thinks  sof 

The  claim  is  sometimes  assumed  that  such  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  too  Christian  to  come  from  a  Jew.  But  is  such  assumption  an 
open  criticism  seeking  for  fact  and  truth?  An  a  priori  judgment  is  not 
the  way  of  sound  reasoning,  but  foi-estalls  it.  Moreover,  if  this  sentence 
be  admitted  as  authentic,  it  necessitates  the  admission  of  that  which 
precedes  it,  upon  which  it  depends.  Josephus  is  giving  a  reason  for  the 
continued  loyalty  of  Christ's  disciples,  after  the  terrible  discourage- 
ment induced  by  his  crucifixion.  He  says :  "Those  having  loved  him  at 
the  first  did  not  cease  [their  affection].  For  he  appeared  to  them  alive  again 
on  the  third  day,  the  divine  prophets  having  proclaimed  both  these  things,  and 
also  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  respecting  him." 

Evidently  the  admission  of  Christ's  resurrection  in  itself  legitimates 
the  admissibilty  of  the  fact  that  "he  was  the  Christ."  In  the 
Jewish  sense  this  was  merely  claiming  that  Jesus  was  the  real  Mes- 
siah of  the  Jews,  with  all  the  temporal  aspects  involved  in  the  expecta- 
tions of  that  people  at  that  period. 

In  writing  a  history  of  the  Jews,  what  sufficient  reason  can  be  as- 
signed why  Josephus  did  not  mention  Jesus  ?  Would  it  not  have  been 
even  more  wonderful  if  he  had  so  absolutely  ignored  him  in  view  of 
his  life  and  work?  Is  it  rational  to  conclude  that  an  historian  as  reli- 
able as  he,  could  and  did  neglect  or  purposely  omitted  to  mention 
Jesus  Christ,  who  of  all  men  was  the  Man  op  History?  Yet  this  is 
precisely  what  Josephus  did,  if  these  two  references  (Ant.,  xvii ;  3,  3, 
and  XX,  9,  1),  which  some  have  held  in  dispute,  are  to  be  considered 
as  spurious.  Yet  the  father  of  Josephus  was  the  contempox-ary  of 
Jesus.  Marvelous  it  would  have  been  if  neither  that  father  nor 
others  of  Jerusalem  had  never  mentioned  the  name  and  fame  of  that 
great  Teacher  and  Miracle-worker,  whose  brief  life  and  countless 
deeds  had  wrought  such  a  powerful  impression  in  the  land  and  for  all 
time?  It  would  indeed  be  more  than  unaccountable  that  so  distin- 
guished an  historian  should  not  have  one  word  to  say  of  that  One  of  all 
HISTORY  who  had  stirred  his  generation  and  nation  from  center  to  cir- 
cumference, who  revolutionized  the  religious  world,  and  changed  the 
course  of  human  history,  and  who  for  two  thousand  years  since  has 
filled  the  centuries  with  his  imperishable  power  and  fame !    Who,  with- 


Appendix.  671 

out  a  single  historical  proof  to  sustain  the  assumption,  and  without 
any  reason  that  is  conclusive  and  rational,  can  believe  this  in  the  face 
of  the  internal  evidence  cited?  For  the  question  of  interpolation  in 
this  case  can  not  be  considered  settled  by  mere  conjectures,  or  by 
taking  counsel  of  one's  private  prejudices.  The  burden  of  proof  is 
upon  the  one  vpho  holds  this  section  to  be  spurious.  It  must  be  proved, 
not  assumed  without  proof.  If  one  fail  in  furnishing  the  requisite  his- 
torical facts,  and  in  his  reasoning  on  those  facts,  his  proposition  must  be 
set  down  "not  proved."  He  must  withal  critically  refute  the  reasons 
here  assigned  for  the  contrary  belief. 

Hei'e  the  argument  for  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  this 
passage  of  Josephus  is  closed.  It  is  left  with  the  reader  to  use  his 
own  judgment  whether  he  accepts  or  omits  the  testimony  of  Josephus 
I'especting  Jesus  Christ.  His  testimony  really  relates  to  three  person- 
ages who  are  conspicuously  named  in  the  New  Testament,  namely : 

a)  John  the  Baptist.     {Ant.  xviii,  5,  2). 

b)  James  the  brother  of  our  Lord.     (Ant.  xx,  9,  1). 

c)  Jesus  Christ.     {Ant.  xviii,  3,  3). 

EXCURSUS  B. 
Epistle  of  Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan. 
"C.  Plinius  Trajano  Imp.  S.  :- 

"Health,  Sire!  It  is  my  custom  to  refer  to  you  all  things  about 
which  I  am  in  doubt.  For  who  is  more  capable  of  directing  my  hesita- 
tion or  instructing  my  ignorance  ? 

"  I  have  never  been  present  at  any  trials  of  the  Christians ;  conse- 
quently, I  do  not  know  what  is  the  nature  of  the  crimes,  or  the  usual 
strictness  of  their  examination,  or  the  severity  of  their  punishment. 
I  have  hesitated  not  a  little,  whether  any  distinction  was  to  be  made  in 
respect  to  age ;  or  whether  those  of  tender  years  were  to  be  treated  the 
same  as  adults ;  or  whether  repentance  entitles  them  to  pardon ;  or 
whether  it  shall  avail  nothing  for  him  who  has  been  a  Christian  to 
renounce  his  error ;  whether  the  name  itself,  even  without  any  crime, 
should  be  subject  to  punishment,  or  only  the  crimes  connected  with  the 
name.  In  the  meantime  I  have  pursued  this  course  toward  those  who 
have  been  brought  before  me  as  Christians.  I  asked  them  whether  they 
were  Christians  ;  if  they  confessed  [that  they  were],  I  repeated  the  ques- 
tion the  second  and  a  third  time,  adding  threats  of  punishment.  If  they 
still  persevered,  I  ordered  them  to  be  led  away  to  punishment ;  for  I 
could  not  doubt,  whatever  the  nature  of  their  profession  might  be,  that 
a  stubborn  and  unyielding  obstinacy  certainly  deserved  to  be  punished 
[with  death].  There  were  others  also  under  like  infatuation;  but  as 
they  were  Roman  citizens,  I  directed  them  to  be  sent  to  the  capital. 


672         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

"  But  the  crime  spread  as  is  wont  to  happen  even  while  the  prosecu- 
tions were  going  on,  and  numerous  instances  presented  themselves.  An 
information  was  presented  to  me  without  any  name  subscribed,  accusing 
a  large  number  of  persons  who  denied  that  they  were  Christians,  or  ever 
had  been.  They  repeated  after  me  an  invocation  of  tlie  gods,  and 
made  offerings  with  frankincense  and  wine  before  your  statue,  which  I 
had  ordered  to  be  brought  in  for  this  pui-pose,  together  with  the  images 
of  the  gods;  and,  moreover,  they  reviled  Christ;  whereas  those  who  are 
truly  Christians,  it  is  said,  can  not  be  forced  to  do  any  of  these  things. 
I  thought,  therefore,  that  they  ought  to  be  discharged.  Others  who 
were  accused  by  a  witness  confessed  that  they  were  Christians,  but  after- 
wards denied  it.  Some  owned  that  they  had  been  Christians,  but  said 
that  they  had  renounced  their  error  some  three  years  before ;  others 
more  ;  and  a  few  even  so  long  ago  as  twenty  years.  They  all  did  homage 
to  your  statue  and  the  images  of  the  gods,  and  at  the  same  time  reviled 
the  name  of  Christ.  They  declared  that  the  whole  of  their  guilt  or 
error  was  that  they  were  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  stated  day  [stato  die] 
before  it  was  light  and  sing  in  a  concert*  praise  to  Christ  as  God,  and  to 
bind  themselves  by  an  oath,t  not  for  the  perpetration  of  any  wickedness, 
but  that  they  would  not  commit  any  theft,  robbery,  or  adultery,  or  vio- 
late their  word,  nor  refuse,  when  called  upon,  to  restore  anything  com- 
mitted to  their  trust.  After  this,  they  were  accustomed  to  separate, 
and  then  reassemble  to  eat  in  common  a  harmless  meal.  Even  this  they 
ceased  to  do  after  my  edict,  in  which,  agreeable  to  your  commands,  I 
forbade  the  meeting  of  secret  assemblies. 

"After  hearing  this,  I  thought  it  the  more  necessary  to  endeavor  to 
find  out  the  truth,  by  putting  to  torture  two  female  slaves  called  dea- 
conesses. But  I  could  discover  nothing  but  a  perverse  and  extravagant 
superstition ;  and  therefore  I  deferred  all  further  proceedings  until  I 
should  consult  with  you.  For  the  matter  appears  to  me  worthy  of  such 
consultation,  especially  on  account  of  the  number  of  those  who  are  in- 
volved in  peril.  For  many  of  every  age,  of  every  rank,  and  of  either 
sex,  are  exposed  and  will  be  exposed  to  danger.  Nor  has  the  contagion 
of  the  superstition  been  confined  to  the  cities,  but  it  has  extended  to 
the  villages,  and  even  to  the  country.  Nevertheless,  it  still  seems  possi- 
ble to  arrest  the  evil  and  apply  the  remedy.  At  least  it  is  evident  that 
the  temples,  which  had  been  deserted,  begin  to  be  frequented  and  the 
sacred  solemnities  so  long  interrupted  are  again  revived ;  and  the  vic- 
tims, which  heretofore  could  hardly  find  a  purchaser,  are  now  every- 
where in  demand.  From  this  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what  a  multitude  of 
men  might  be  reclaimed,  if  pardon  should  be  offered  to  those  who 
repent." 


*Secum  lnvicein  =  "  alternately,"  perhaps  responsive  singing  unto  Christ, 
f  Sacramentum  =  a  Roman  oath  of  allegiance;  secondly,  religiously,  an  ob- 
ligation of  loyalty  to  Christ. 


Appendix.  073 

EXCURSUS  0. 
Thh  Logia  op  Our  Lord  ;  or,  "The  Sayings  op  Jesus." 

This  is  the  title  given  to  the  fragment  of  an  ancient  document  whose 
date  is  placed  at  A.  D.  100-150.  It  consists  of  a  brief  and  fragile  leaf 
belonging  to  a  book  purporting  to  contain  Christ's  sayings  in  his  ministry 
on  earth.  The  single  leaf  measures  three  and  three-fourths  by  five  and 
three-fourths  inches,  but  is  broken  off  at  the  foot  of  the  page.  It  was 
written  on  papyrus,  and  bears  the  ancient  marks  of  contraction  in  cer- 
tain Greek  words,  such  as  characterize  Biblical  manuscripts  of  very  early 
date,  such  as  ic  anoc  ec,  and  an  occasional  n,  represented  by  a  hori- 
zontal stroke  above  the  final  letter. 

This  fragment  was  very  recently  discovered,  along  with  many  other 
Greek  manuscripts,  on  the  edge  of  the  Libyan  or  Western  Desert, 
on  the  banks  of  Joseph's  River  ("Bahr  Yusuf"),  about  seven  miles 
from  the  River  Nile,  in  one  of  a  series  of  low  mounds,  on  the  site  of  an 
ancient  city  called  Oxyrhynchus,  whose  ruins  are  now  in  part  occupied 
by  a  squalid  village  of  a  few  huts  known  as  Behesa.  It  was  found  by 
two  young  men  named  A.  S.  Hunt  and  Bernard  P.  Grenfell,  both  grad- 
uates and  Fellows  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  in  England,  whose 
researches  for  antiquities  were  conducted  under  the  general  direction  of 
Professor  Petrie. 

Upon  the  internal  evidence  of  the  document,  some  critics  date  this 
fragment  as  early  as  A.  D.  140 ;  others,  by  reason  of  its  archaic  expres- 
sion and  characteristic  framework,  place  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century.  Its  real  antiquity  as  yet  can  not  be  fully  determined.  But  if 
the  latter  hypothesis  should  prove  to  be  the  correct  date,  it  brings  the 
chronology  of  the  document  within  touch  of  the  Apostolic  Age,  and 
within  about  a  half  century  of  the  publication  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels, 
and  still  nearer  to  the  writing  of  John's  Gospel.  Among  the  seven  say- 
ings of  Jesus  is  one  which  does  not  seem  to  be  in  harmony  with  our 
Lord's  teachings  as  recorded  by  the  Evangelists.  It  is  that  which  relates 
to  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  Nevertheless,  in  all  other  respects 
these  Logia  are  of  great  evidential  value  as  serving  to  authenticate  both 
the  antiquity  and  credibility  of  the  Gospels,  being  a  profane  document 
from  an  independent  source.  They  appear  to  be  Memorabilia  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  ;  for  without  the  historical  Christ  there  would  be  no  accounting 
for  the  origin  of  these  "  Sayings." 

It  should  especially  be  remarked  that  John  opens  both  his  Gospel 
and  his  First  Epistle  by  designating  Jesus  by  the  Greek  word  Logos 
(A6705-),  which  in  both  of  our  versions  is  rendered  "  Word:"  "In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word;"  "The  Word  was  made  [became]  flesh;" 
"  The  Word  of  Life."  The  four  Gospels  do  not  assume  to  give  us  all  the 
sayings  of  Christ.  Indeed,  John  expressly  disclaims  doing  so  (Gospel, 
xxi,  25)  ;  and  Paul  makes  a  citation  of  Christ's  words  which  are  not 


674  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

found  in  the  Gospels  at  all  when  he  says :  ^^ Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  (Acts  xx,35.) 
Scholars  will  be  pleased  to  see  a  copy  of  the  Greek  text  of  this  frag- 
ment so  far  as  it  has  proved  to  be  decipherable,  and  the  translation  of 
the  same  is  herewith  subjoined.  The  dots  and  brackets  indicate  the 
omissions  which  occur  in  the  text. 

1.  .      .      .      Kal    rSre     Sia/SX^i/'etf     iK^aXeiv    rb    Kaptpoi;'     to    ev     ti^      d<pda\fjii{.     toO 

d8e\(t>ov  ffov. 
.     .     .     '  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  that  is 
in  thy  brother's  eye.' 

2.  A^et  'iT/croCf      idtv  /j-i}   V7]ffT€V(rr]Te    rdv  kScthop    ov  /xt]    evpr)Te    rrfv   ^acriXelav  rov 

^eoO-      Kal  ikv  fii)  ffa^^ariffTfTe  t6  (Td^jiarov  ovk  6\j/e<Tde  rbv  waripa. 
'  Jesus  saith,  Except  ye  fast  to  the  world,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  find  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  and  except  ye  keep  the  sabbath,  ye  shall  not 
see  the  Father.' 

3.  A^et    I'r](TOV(^-     e[ff]Tr]v   iv    p.i<xip  toO    Kbap-ov^   Kal    iv    aapKl    oKpd-qv    avToT<^,   Kal 

eUpov    wavra^  fi.edvovTa^    Kal    ov54va    evpov    bixpOivTa    eu    aiiroi^,   Kal    irovei    i) 

^vxv   fioO   iirl  TO?f  vloi^  tQv  dvdpu)wwv^   6ti  TV(f>\ol  eiaiv  ry   Kapdlg.  avTCj[v]. 

'Jesus  saith,  I  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  and  in  the  flesh  was 

I  seen  of  them,  and  I  found  all  men  drunken,  and  none  found  I 

athirst  among  them,  and  my  soul  grieveth  over  the  sons  of  men, 

because  the  are  blind  in  their  heart.'     .     . 

4.  .         .         .        TTIV     TTTCxJX^taV. 

.     .     .     '  the  poverty.     .     . 

5.  [A^7]et      ['IrjffoO^-   SttJoii    idv    Jiffiv    [      .      .      .      ]e[      .      .      .      ]      .      .      6€oi  Kal 

[...]  CO  ...€[..  ]  ecTTiv  p.6vo(^  [  .  .  JTw  ^7w  elixl 
fj.€T  avT[ov]  e-/€i[p]ov  rbv  \idov  KaKei  eiipTrjaeig'  p,e,  ffx^cov  rb  ^vKov  KayC) 
iKei  ei/xl. 

'Jesus  saith.  Wherever  there  are  .  .  .  and  there  is  one  .  .  . 
alone,  I  am  with  him.  Raise  the  stone  and  there  thou  shalt  find 
me  ;  cleave  the  wood,  and  there  I  am.' 

6.  A^yei    IrjffoO^'     oiK    eariv   deKrb^  irpo<t>'r)Tr}<^  iv  tj    irarplbi  aiJT[o]u,  ovbk  iarpbg' 

iroiet  depaTTela^  el^  Toii^  yivdiffKovra^  ainbv. 
'Jesus  saith,  A  prophet  is  not  acceptable  in  his  own  country,  neither 
doth  a  physician  work  cures  upon  them  tliat  know  him.' 

7.  A^7€i    I?;croOs"'      irbXu^    (^Kobop.riixivr)  iw''     dKpov  [fijpoi^s"    wprfKov  Kal    i<TT-^piyij.ii>r] 

oijre  Tr€[cr]€iv  d'tivarai.  oUre  Kpv[^]rjpaL. 

'Jesus  saith,  A  city  built  on  the  top  of  a  hill  and  established,  can 
neither  fall  nor  be  hid.' 

EXCURSUS  D. 

DiDACHK ;  OK,  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 
This  recently-discovered  and  famous  writing  was  written  in  Hellen- 
istic Greek,  as  were  the  New  Testament  and  the  Septuagint  of  the  Old 
Testament.  It  is  believed  to  have  been  written  in  Syria  or  Palestine. 
The  subject-matter  of  the  manuscript  was  first  announced  in  1875,  and 
in  1883  it  was  given  to  the  world  printed  in  complete  form  by  the  dis- 


Appendix.  675 

coverer,  the  distinguished  scholar  and  prelate,  Bryennios,  then  metro- 
politan of  Serae,  now  of  Nicomedia.  The  original  writer  is  unknown. 
The  document  was  found  in  what  is  known  as  the  Jerusalem  manuscript, 
in  the  library  of  Constantinople.  This  copy  was  made  in  A.  D.  1056; 
but,  in  the  judgment  of  the  critics,  the  original  was  written  A.  D.  70-100, 
with  a  strong  probability  of  70-79.  In  1884,  Hilgenfeld  issued  his  Novum 
Testamentum  along  with  this  manuscript,  with  critical  emendations 
(Leipsic,  iv,  94-103  ). 

The  Didache  bears  a  twofold  title.  The  briefer  one  is  the  Teaching, 
but  a  more  descrii)tive  title  is  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  {Aidaxrj 
tQv  SdideKa  ' ATroffrdXuv) .  The  opening  sentence  of  the  document  reads: 
•'  Teaching  of  the  Lord  by  the  Twelve  Apostles  to  the  Nations"  (AIAAXH 
Kvplov  8id  tQv  dudeKa  ' AiroffrdXwv  toii;-  'Edveinv).  There  is  no  claim  for  in- 
spiration in  this  writing,  or  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  Scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament.  Rather  it  is  a  summary  of  the  apostolic  teachings, 
intended  to  be  used  in  the  catechetical  instruction  of  converts  by  the 
successors  of  the  apostles.  It  is  concededly  identical  with  the  work 
mentioned  by  Eusebius  and  Athanasius,  and  cited  by  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria. It  very  much  resembles  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  (not  the  Apostolic 
Father),  with  which  the  manuscript  was  connected  when  discovered,  and 
it  is  of  the  same  chronology.  It  contains  sixteen  chapters,  nearly  half 
of  which  relates  to  The  Two  Ways  ;  the  remainder  referring  to  rites  and 
orders  in  the  Church,  and  to  sacred  occasions  and  observances  related 
thereto,  directions  about  the  mode  of  baptism,  formulae  respecting  the 
Eucharist,  words  about  the  Lord's  Day,  the  Christian  apostles  and  proph- 
ets, and  it  enjoins  also  a  careful  watchfulness  for  the  Second  Coming  of 
Christ. 

Dr.  Salmon,  professor  in  the  University  at  Dublin,  remarks:  "This 
work  bears  every  mark  of  a  great  antiquity,  and  it  is  commonly  accepted 
as  belonging  to  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  if  not  the  latter 
part  of  the  first."  (Introd.  N.  T.  5th  ed.  1891,  p.  555.)  Bishop  Lightfoot 
says :"  The  archaic  simplicity  of  its  practical  suggestions  .  .  .  point 
to  the  first  or  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  as  the  date  of  the 
work."  (Apos.  Fathers,  ed.  1891,  p.  216.)  Dr.  Schaff  adds:  "  Didache  is 
no  modern  or  ancient  forgery,  but  has  every  internal  evidence  of  gi-eat 
antiquity  and  genuineness."  "  It  has  the  highest  marks  of  antiquity. 
.  .  .  There  is  nothing  in  it  which  could  not  have  been  written  between 
A.  D.  70  and  100."     (Teaching  of  Twelve  Apostles,  pp.  114,  119,  122.) 

EXCURSUS  E. 

The  Muratorian  Canon. 

This  fragment  is  so  called  from  the  name  of  its  discoverer,  Muratori, 
an  Italian.  It  was  originally  found  in  Bobbio  in  the  monastery,  and 
thence  was  carried  to  Milan  and  placed  in  the  Ambrosian  Library^ 
where,  after  being  for  a  long  time  lost  to  sight,  it  was  discovered.    This 


676         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

copy  was  made  about  the  seventh  or  eighth  century,  but  the  original 
was  composed  about  the  middle  of  the  second  Christian  century.  At 
the  beginning  and  the  end,  this  manuscript  is  considerably  disfigured 
by  the  transcriber.  It  is  written  in  Latin,  but  unquestionably  it  is  a 
translation  from  the  Greek.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  document  of  the  high- 
est interest  and  importance.  It  is  also  much  mutilated  at  the  beginning 
and  the  ending.  In  its  present  form  several  of  the  first  leaves  are  miss- 
ing, and  the  fragment  begins  with  the  last  words  of  a  sentence  evidently 
taken  from  Mark's  Gospel.  It  then  mentions  Luke's  Gospel  as  being 
third  in  order,  having  been  written  by  Luke  the  physician,  the  compan- 
ion of  Paul.  It  distinctly  assigns  the  fourth  Gospel  to  John,  who  is 
expressly  named  as  "  a  disciple  of  the  Lord." 

Its  authorship  is  unknown.  Bunsen  attributed  it  to  Hegesippus, 
the  earliest  Church  historian,  whose  work,  except  a  fragment,  has  per- 
ished. But  there  is  nothing  in  the  internal  evidence  to  determine  who 
the  writer  was,  and  the  assigning  it  to  any  person  is  merely  a  shrewd 
guess. 

Dr.  Westcott  claims  for  the  fragment  a  very  high  authority,  and 
says  that  its  composition  can  not  be  placed  much  later  than  A.  D.  170. 
He  says:  "The  internal  evidence  fully  confirms  its  claim  to  this  high 
antiquity ;  and  it  may  be  regarded  on  the  whole  as  a  summary  of  the 
opinion  of  the  Western  Church  on  the  Canon,  shortly  after  the  middle 
of  the  second  century." 

Acts  follows  the  Gospels ;  the  thirteen  Pauline  Epistles  are  referred 
to  that  apostle  as  their  author.  Nine  are  addressed  to  the  Churches,  and 
four  to  individuals  in  the  Church.  Of  Paul  it  is  said  that  he  "  wrote  by 
name  only  to  seven  Churches,  showing  thereby  the  unity  of  the  general 
Church ;  though  he  wrote  twice  to  the  Corinthians  and  Thessalonians 
for  their  correction."  "He  wrote  at  greater  length  first  to  the  Corin- 
thians to  forbid  heretical  schism ;  afterwards  to  the  Galatians  to  put  a 
stop  to  circumcision ;  then  to  the  Romans,  according  to  the  rule  of  the 
[Old  Testament]  Scriptures,  showing  at  the  same  time  that  Christ  was  the 
foundation  of  them."  He  also  mentions  "  an  Epistle  to  Philemon,  one 
to  Titus,  and  two  to  Timothy."  "  First  Peter,  and  First  John  and  the 
Epistle  of  James,  Second  Peter,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  are  all 
omitted ;  but,  with  these  exceptions,  every  book  in  our  New  Testament 
Canon  is  acknowledged."     (Westcott,  Canon,  pp.  212,  217-219.) 

EXCURSUS  F. 

The  Expurgated  Editions  of  the  Jewish  Talmud. 

In  A.  D.  1240  a  conference  was  held  at  Paris  between  the  Jewish 
Rabbins  on  the  one  part,  and  Nicolaus  Donin  on  the  other,  in  regard  to 
certain  blasphemies  and  opprobrious  epithets  recorded  against  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  and  his  mother,  Mary  the  Virgin.  These  things  had  long  been 
taught  to  the  Jewish  youth.     The  chief  of  the  Rabbins,  whose  name  was 


Appendix.  677 

Jechiel,  would  not  admit  that  the  Jesus  there  referred  to  was  the  "  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,"  but  affirmed  that  the  opprobrious  language  of  the  Talmud 
then  existing  was  meant  to  apply  to  another  bearing  the  same  name ! 
This  discovery  was  the  more  remarkable  inasmuch  as  the  Rabbi  could 
not  designate  the  "other"  Jesus  as  the  distinguished  personage.  Dr. 
Levin,  himself  a  Jew,  in  a  prize  essay  remarks:  "  We  must  regard  the  at- 
tempt of  F.  Jechiel  to  ascertain  that  there  were  two  by  the  name  of  Jesus  as 
unfortunate,  original  as  the  idea  may  be!"  However,  the  result  of  this 
conference  was,  that  "  the  Talmud  in  wagon-loads  was  burned  at  Paris 
in  A.  D.  1242."  These  highly  offensive  passages  were  thereupon  expunged 
from  the  Talmud,  the  last  unexpur gated,  edition  dating  at  Amsterdam  in  1645. 
The  expurgation  was  done  under  an  edict  published  by  the  Jewish  elders 
in  Council,  convened  in  Poland  in  1631,  or  A.  M.  5391. 

The  Edict. 

"  Great  peace  to  our  beloved  brethren  of  the  House  of  Israel:  Hav- 
ing received  information  that  many  Christians  have  applied  themselves 
with  care  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of  the  language  in  which  our  books 
were  written,  we  therefore  enjoin  upon  you,  under  the  penalty  of  the  Great 
Ban  (to  be  inflicted  upon  such  of  you  as  shall  transgress  this  our  statute), 
that  you  do  not  in  any  new  editions  of  the  Mishna  or  Gemara  publish 
anything  relative  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  and  you  take  special  care  not  to 
write  anything  concerning  him,  good  or  bad  ;  so  that  neither  ourselves 
nor  our  religion  be  exposed  to  any  injury.  For  w^e  know  what  those  men 
of  Belial,  the  Murim  [i.  e.,  "Heretics"],  have  done  to  us  when  they  be- 
came Christians,  and  how  their  representatives  against  us  have  obtained 
credit.    Therefore  let  us  make  you  cautious. 

"If  you  should  not  pay  strict  attention  to  this  our  letter,  but  act 
contrary  thereto,  and  continue  to  publish  our  books  in  the  same  way  as  be- 
fore, you  will  occasion  both  to  us  and  yourselves  greater  afflictions  than 
we  have  hitherto  experienced,  and  be  the  means  of  our  being  compelled 
to  embrace  the  Christian  religion  as  we  were  formerly ;  and  thus  our 
latter  troubles  be  worse  than  the  former.  For  these  reasons  we  com- 
mand you  that  if  you  publish  any  new  editions  of  these  books,  let  the 
places  relating  to  Jesus  the  Nazarene  be  left  blank,  and  fill  the  space 
with  a  circle  like  this:  O.  But  the  Rabbins  and  teachers  of  the  chil- 
dren well  know  how  to  instruct  the  youth  by  the  word  of  mouth.  Then 
Christians  will  no  longer  have  anything  to  show  against  us  upon  this 
subject,  and  we  may  expect  deliverance  from  the  afflictions  we  have 
heretofore  laboi-ed  under,  and  reasonably  hope  to  live  in  peace."  (See 
C.  Leslie's  Short  and  Easy  Method  ivith  the  Jews,  p.  2,  et  seq.,  London,  1812, 
in  which  the  Hebrew  and  the  English  translation  appear  side  by  side  ; 
also  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclop,  x,  172;  also  Rabbi  Joseph  S.  C.  F. 
Frey's  Messiahship  o/Zesus,  1850,  pp.  123,  124;  also  his  Joseph  and  Benja- 
min, 9th  ed..  Vol.  I,  p.  238.) 

In  the  unexpurgated  editions  of  the  Talmud  the  name  of  Jesus  oc- 
curs about  twenty  times.   Besides  being  named  Jesus,  he  is  often  covertly 


678  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

referred  to  in  terms  of  disguise,  and  in  a  manner  marked  with  malignity 
illustrative  of  the  ancient  spirit  which  crucified  him.  Among  those 
opprobrious  epithets  are  the  designation  "  J.6saZom;"  "  Ben  Stada,"  i.  e., 
the  son  of  Stada;  "  Ben  Fandira,  i.  e.,  either  scourge  or  ravenous  lust, 
meaning  the  son  of  adultery ;  "  A  certain  one,"  ''Jl73=6  deXva,  ^'He  ivhom 
we  may  not  name;"  "  The  Nazarene;"  "  The  Fool;"  "  The  Hung"  upon 
the  cross, —  cf.  Acts  v,  30,  and  x,  39.  Hence  Abn  Ezra  remarks, 
under  Gen.  xxvii,  89,  that  Constantine  the  Great,  the  first  Christian 
emperor,  "placed  the  figure  of  The  Hung"  upon  his  standard;  and 
Rabbi  Bechal,  on  Psalms  Ixxx,  14,  says:  "Behold  and  visit  this  vine, 
adding  that  in  the  word  1  Ji^'D,  the  Hebrew  letter;;  is  suspended  to  indi- 
cate that  those  who  ruin  the  vineyard  [the  Christians]  are  the  worshipers 
of  The  Hung."  But  more  and  worse  than  this  is  the  substituting 
Hebrew  letters  for  the  Greek  form  of  Christ's  name  (B'lT'' for 'I7;<ro0c, 
Jesus),  from  which  they  construct  a  word  taking  each  letter  as  an 
initial,  the  several  woi-ds  composing  a  sentence  to  this  effect:  "  May  his 
memory  i\)  be  destroyed  C),  and  his  name  {\if)  be  blotted  out  (1)."  (See 
Farrar's  Life  of  Christ,  Vol.  II,  452,  453.) 

"The  nanae  was  W'',  [Jesus]  in  order  that  it  might  sound  peculiar  to 
the  people,  so  as  to  cause  them  to  spy  out  his  words  and  deeds,  and  to 
search  out  his  progenitor.  Thus  it  would  become  known  that  he  was  re- 
garded as  illegitimate  by  the  Jewish  sages  who  had  bestowed  upon  him 
the  name  Jeshu  designedly ;  because  the  three  letters  of  which  it  is 
composed  (Yomokh,  Shema,  Vazikho)  means:  "May  his  name  be  de- 
famed and  obliterated  !"     (Toledoth  Jeshu  Ha  Nassri.) 

EXCURSUS  G. 

Extracts  from  the  Toledoth  Jeshu. 

[These  extracts  are  taken  from  S.  Baring-Gould's  work  bearing  the 

title.  The  Lost  and  Hostile  Gospels  (London,  1874),  embodying  Wagen- 

seiFs  refutation  of  the  original  book  called  the  Toledoth  Jeshu  ("  History 

of  Jesus"),  issued  in  A.  D.  1681,  and  Huldrich's  translation  of  the  same 

under  the  title,  Historia  Jeshux  Nazareni  (Leyden,  1705).     The  original 

Toledoth  Jeshu  was  translated  years  ago  into  English  by  a  London  Jew, 

a  bookseller,  under  the  title.  The   Gospel  According  to  the  Jews,  in  the 

stupid  supposition  that  the  book  would  make  against  Christianity!] 

1.  Mother  of  Jesus.     "  In  the  Year  of  the  World  4671,  in  the  days   of 

King  Jannseus,  a  great  misfortune  befell  Israel.     There  arose  at 

that  time  a  scapegrace,   a  wastrel  and  worthless   fellow,  of  the 

fallen  race  of  Judah,  named  Joseph  Pandira.     He  was  a  well-built 

man,  strong  and  handsome,  but  he  spent  his  time  in  robbery  and 

violence.     His  dwelling  was  at  Bethlehem,  in  Juda.     And  there 

lived  near  him  a  widow  and  her  daughter,  whose  name  was  Mir  jam 

[Mary] ;    and   this  is  the  same  Mirjam  who  dressed   and   curled 

women's  hair,  who  is  mentioned  several  times  in  the  Talmud." 


Appendix.  679 

This  author  dates  the  birth  of  Jesus,  according  to  the  Tahnud, 
in  the  reign  of  Alexander  Jannseus,  who  reigned  106-79  B.  C. 
Reckoning  by  Jewish  count  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  he 
names  the  year  4671  (910  B.  C.)-  In  opprobrious  terms  he  repre- 
sents our  Lord  as  the  illegitimate  child  of  this  Pandira  and  Mary, 
whose  name  was  Joshua,  after  his  uncle,  and  was  given  to  Rabbi 
Elchanan  to  be  instructed  in  the  law;  that  this  Jeshu  (Jesus), 
when  a  boy,  for  not  uncovering  his  head  and  bowing  his  knee  in 
the  presence  of  some  Sanhedrists,  was  expelled  from  the  Temple 
under  a  blast  of  three  hundred  trumpets,  and  went  to  Galilee, 
where  he  spent  several  years !  Mary  is  represented  as  being  a 
marvelously  beautiful  woman,  whose  death  is  thus  mentioned: 

"  Not  long  after  this.  King  Herod  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  But  when  he  had  obtained  the 
throne,  he  heard  that  the  people  of  Ai  had  made  images  in  honor 
of  Jesus  and  Mary,  and  he  wrote  letters  to  Ai  and  ordered  their 
destruction.  .  .  .  When  the  people  of  Ai  saw  that  there  was 
no  help,  they  burned  the  images  and  bound  themselves  before  the 
sons  of  Israel.  And  about  this  time  Mirjam,  the  mother  of  Jeshu 
died.  Then  the  king  ordered  that  she  should  be  buried  at  the  foot 
of  the  tree  on  which  Jeshu  had  hung ;  and  there  he  also  had  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  Jeshu  hung  up.  And  they  were  hung,  and 
a  memorial  stone  was  set  up  on  the  spot.  But  the  worthless  men, 
their  kinsmen,  came  and  destroyed  the  memorial  stone,  and  set 
up  another  in  its  stead,  on  which  they  wrote  the  words :  '  Lo !  this 
is  the  ladder  set  upon  the  earth,  whose  head  reaches  to  heaven,  and 
the  angels  of  God  ascend  and  descend  upon  it,  and  the  mother  re- 
joices here  in  her  children.  Allelujah  !'  Now,  when  the  king  heard 
this,  he  destroyed  the  memorial  they  had  erected,  and  killed  a 
hundred  of  the  kindred  of  Jeshu." 

2.  Birth  of  Christ.  The  text  of  Huldrich  relates  that  Jesus  spent  many 
years  in  Egypt,  the  headquarters  of  those  who  practiced  the  art  of 
magic;  that  having  learned  the  art,  he  went  to  Galilee,  proclaim- 
ing himself  the  Creator  of  the  world,  born  of  a  virgin  according 
to  the  prediction  of  Isaiah  vii,  14 ;  and  was  ready  to  prove  his  mis- 
sion to  the  people  by  working  miracles.  On  another  occasion, 
when  the  Jews  sought  to  slay  Jesus, — 

"The  Fatherless  One  answered:  'Did  not  Isaiah  prophesy  of 
me?  And  my  father  David,  did  he  not  speak  of  me?  The  Lord 
said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  son ;  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee. 
Desire  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inherit- 
ance, and  the  uttermost  part  of  tlie  earth  for  thy  possession. 
Thou  shalt  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  break  them  in  pieces 
like  a  potter's  vessel.'  And  in  like  manner  he  speaks  in  another 
place:  '  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord  :  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand, 
till  I  make  thine  enemies^my  footstool !   And  now,  behold  !     I  will 


680         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ascend  to  my  heavenly  Father,  and  sit  me  down  at  his  right 
hand.'  "  "About  this  time  Jeshu  assembled  the  inhabitants  about 
him  and  wrought  many  miracles,  .  .  .  and  cried:  'I  am 
God,  the  son  of  God,  born  of  my  mother  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  sprang  from  her  virginal  brow.'  " 

3.  Flight  into  Egypt.    According    to   the   Wagenseil  text,   Mirjam,   or 

Mary,  was  betrothed  to  one  Jochanan,  and  resided  at  Bethlehem ; 
in  the  Huldricli  text,  she  was  married  to  Joseph  Pandira,  and 
lived  in  Jerusalem.  She  was  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin !  After 
many  years,  the  home  of  Mirjam  and  Joseph  Pandira,  in  Bethle- 
hem, became  known  to  Herod,  who  sent  orders  for  their  arrest 
and  for  the  massacre  of  the  children ;  but  Joseph  who  had  been 
forewarned  by  a  kinsman  in  the  court  of  Herod,  fled  with  his 
wife  and  children  into  Egypt.  The  story  relates  further  that  after 
many  years,  because  of  a  famine  in  Egypt,  Joseph  and  Mirjam 
with  Jeshu  and  his  brethren  returned  to  Canaan  and  resided  in 
Nazareth. 

4.  Jesus  wrought  Miracles.      According    to    Huldrich's  text,   our   Lord 

learned  magic  in  Egypt,  and  practiced  it  as  miracles  in  Judsea; 
but  according  to  the  text  of  Wagenseil,  the  following  was  the 
origin  of  Christ's  miraculous  power: 

"  Now  at  this  time  the  unutterable  Name  of  God  [i.  e.,  riin*) 
Jehovah]  was  engraved  in  the  Temple  on  the  corner-stone.  For 
when  King  David  dug  the  foundations,  he  found  there  a  stone 
in  the  ground  on  which  the  Name  of  God  was  engraved,  and  took 
it  and  placed  it  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  But  as  the  wise  men 
feared  lest  some  inquisitive  youth  should  learn  this  Name,  and  be 
able  thereby  to  destroy  the  world — which  God  advert! — they 
made  by  magic  tw^o  brazen  lions,  which  they  set  before  the 
entrance  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  one  on  the  right,  the  other  on  the 
left.  Now,  if  any  one  were  to  go  in,  and  learn  the  Holy  Name, 
then  the  lions  would  begin  to  roar  as  he  came  out,  so  that  out  of 
alarm  and  bewilderment,  he  would  lose  his  presence  of  mind,  and 
forget  the  Name. 

"And  Jeshu  left  Upper  Galilee,  and  came  secretly  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  went  into  the  temple,  and  there  learned  the  holy  writ- 
ing; and  after  he  had  wi'itten  the  incommunicable  Name  on 
parchment,  he  uttered  it  with  the  intent  that  he  might  feel  no  pain, 
and  then  cut  into  his  flesh,  and  hid  the  parchment  with  the  in- 
scription therein.  Then  he  uttered  the  Name  once  more,  and 
made  so  that  his  flesh  healed  up  again.  And  when  he  went  to  the 
door  the  lions  roared,  and  he  forgot  the  Name.  Therefore  he 
hastened  outside  the  town,  cut  into  his  flesh,  took  the  writing  out, 
and  when  he  had  sufficiently  studied  the  signs,  he  retained  the 
Name  in  his  memory." 


Appendix.  681 

The  Huldrich  text  teaches  that  Jesus  learned  magic  in  Egypt 
which  in  Palestine  he  palmed  off  as  miracles.  In  Wagenseil's 
edition  he  suiTSptitiously  obtained  and  wrought  miracles  by 
using  the  sacred  Name  of  Jehovah,  which  could  be  spoken  only 
by  the  high  priest  once  a  year,  on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement.  The 
story  in  the  Jew's  Talmud  says  that  he  obtained  miraculous  power 
by  bringing  out  of  Egypt,  secretly  cut  on  the  skin,  the  magical 
arts  there  privately  taught !  Such  silly  absurdities  refute  them- 
selves.    The  story  proceeds  to  say  that  Jesus  said : 

"  '  Bring  me  here  a  dead  man,  and  I  will  restore  him  to  life.' 
Then  all  the  people  hastened  and  dug  into  a  grave,  but  found 
nothing  in  it  but  bones.  ...  He  said :  '  Bring  them  hither  to 
me.'  So  when  they  had  brought  them,  he  placed  tlie  bones  to- 
gether, and  surrounded  them  with  skin  and  flesh  and  muscles,  so 
that  the  dead  man  stood  up  alive  on  his  feet.  And  when  the  peo- 
ple saw  this,  they  wondered  greatly.  And  he  said  :  '  Do  ye  marvel 
at  this  that  I  have  done?  Bring  hither  a  leper,  and  I  will  heal 
him.'  So  when  they  had  placed  a  leper  before  him,  he  gave 
him  health  in  like  manner,  by  means  of  the  incommunicable 
Name.  And  all  the  people  that  saw  this  fell  down  before  him, 
prayed  to  him  and  said,  '  Truly  thou  art  the  Son  of  God.' 

"But  after  five  days  the  report  of  what  had  been  done, 
came  to  Jerusalem,  and  all  was  related  that  Jeshu  had  wrought  in 
Galilee.  Then  all  the  people  rejoiced  greatly ;  but  the  elders,  the 
pious  men,  and  the  company  of  the  wise  men  wept  bitterly.  And 
the  gi'eat  and  the  little  mourned,  and  at  length  agreed  that  they 
would  send  a  deputation  to  him  ;  for  they  thought  that  pei'haps, 
with  God's  help,  they  might  overpower  him  and  bring  him  to 
judgment,  and  condemn  him  to  death.  Therefore  they  sent  unto 
him  Ananias  and  Achasias,  the  noblest  men  of  the  little  council ; 
and  when  they  had  come  to  him,  they  bowed  themselves  before 
him  reverently  in  order  to  deceive  him  as  to  their  purpose.  And 
he,  thinking  that  they  believed  in  him,  received  them  with  a 
smiling  countenance,  and  placed  them  in  his  assembly  of  profli- 
gates." 

5.  Jesus  and  His  Disciples.  According  to  Huldrich's  edition  of  the 
Toledoth  Jeshu,  Jeshu  gathered  about  him  many  disciples,  whose 
names  were  "  Simon  and  Matthias,  Elikus,  Mardochai,  and  Thoda, 
whose  names  Jeshu  changed.  He  called  Simon  Peter,  after  the 
word  Petrus,  which  in  Hebrew  signifies  the  Fii-st.  And  Matthias 
he  called  Matthew ;  and  Elikus  he  called  Luke,  because  he  sent 
him  forth  among  the  heathen  [Luke  x,  1-14] ;  and  Mardochai  he 
named  Mark,  because  he  said,  'Vain  men  come  unto  me.'  And 
Thoda  he  called  Pahul  [Paul],  because  he  bore  witness  of  him. 
Another  worthless  fellow  also  joined  them,  named  Jochanan,  and 
he  changed   his    name    to    Jahannus    [probably   a   corruption    of 


682         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

Johanan,  i.  e.,  John],  on  account  of  the  miracles  Jeshu  ivrought 
through  him,  by  means  of  the  incommunicable  Name.  This 
Jahannus  advised  that  all  the  men  who  were  together  should 
have,  their  heads  washed  with  the  water  Boleth,  that  the  hair 
might  not  grow  on  them,  and  all  the  world  might  know  that  they 
were  Nazarenes.  But  the  affair  was  known  to  the  elders  and  to 
the  king.  Then  he  sent  his  messengers  to  take  Jeshu  and  his  dis- 
ciples, to  bring  them  to  Jerusalem.  But  out  of  fear  of  the  people, 
they  gave  timely  warning  to  Jeshu  that  the  king  sought  to  take 
and  kill  him  and  his  companions.  Therefore  they  fled  into  the 
desert  of  Ai  [Capernaum?]  (Luke  xiii,  31-33.)  And  when  the 
servants  of  the  king  came  and  found  them  not,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Jahannus,  they  took  him  and  led  him  before  tlie  king. 
And  the  king  ordered  that  Jahannus  should  be  executed  with  the 
sword.  The  servants  of  the  king  therefore  went  at  his  com- 
mand and  slew  Jahannus,  and  hung  up  his  head  at  the  gate  of  Je- 
rusalem." [Here  is  an  obvious  confounding  of  John  the  Baptist 
with  John  the  disciple.] 

"  There  grew  to  be  a  strife  between  the  Nazarenes  and  the 
Jews,  .  .  .  and  the  distress  grew  greater  during  thirty  years. 
And  the  Nazarenes  assembled  in  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands. 
And  the  belief  of  the  opposition  grew  more  and  more,  and  spread 
on  all  sides.  Also  twelve  godless  runagates  separated  and  trav- 
ersed the  twelve  realms,  and  everywhere  in  the  assemblies  of  the 
people  uttered  false  prophecies.  Also  many  Israelites  adhered  to 
them  ;  and  these  were  men  of  high  renown,  and  they  strengthened 
the  faith  in  Jeshu.  And  because  they  gave  themselves  out  to  be 
messengers  of  him  who  was  hung  [in  ci'ucifixion],  a  great  number 
followed  them  from  among  the  Israelites. 

"Now  when  the  wise  men  saw  the  desperate  condition  of  af- 
fairs, one  said  to  another:  *Woe  unto  us!  for  we  have  deserved 
it  through  our  sins.'  And  they  sat  in  great  distress,  and  wept, 
and  looked  up  to  heaven  and  prayed.  And  when  they  had  ended 
their  prayer,  there  rose  up  a  very  aged  man  of  the  elders,  by  name 
Simon  Cephas  [John  i,  42],  who  understood  prophecy;  and  he  said 
to  the  others  '  Hearken  to  me,  my  brethren  !  if  ye  will  consent 
unto  my  advice,  I  will  separate  these  wicked  ones  from  the  com- 
pany of  the  Israelites,  that  they  will  have  neither  part  nor  lot 
with  Israel.  But  the  sin  do  ye  take  upon  you.'  Then  answered 
they  all  and  said,  'The  sin  be  on  us;  declare  unto  us  thy  coun- 
sel and  fulfill  thy  purpose.'  Therefore  Simon  son  of  Cephas, 
went  into  the  Holiest  Place  and  wrote  the  incommunicable  Name, 
and  cut  into  his  flesh  and  hid  the  parchment  therein.  And  when 
he  came  forth  out  of  the  temple  he  took  forth  the  writing;  and 
when  he  had  learned  the  Name,  he  betook  himself  to  the  chief 
city  of  the  Nazarenes,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice:  'Let  all  who 
believe  in  Jeshu  come  unto  me,  for  I  am  sent  by  him  to  you!' 


Appendix.  683 

Then  there  came  unto  him  multitudes  as  the  sand  on  the  seashore, 
and  tliey  said  to  him:  '  Show  us  a  sign  that  thou  art  sent!'  And 
he  said:  'What  sign?'  They  answered  him:  'Even  the  signs 
that  Jeshu  wrought  when  he  was  alive.'  "  [Thereupon  Simon 
Peter  heals  a  leper,  and  restores  a  dead  man  to  life.  Then  the 
people  adhered  to  him  as  having  been  sent  by  Jeshu.  This  seems 
to  be  a  confounding  of  Peter  with  Simon  Magus,  mentioned  in 
Acts  viii,  9-24.] 

"Then  said  Simon  Cephas  to  them:  'Yea,  verily  Jeshu  did 
send  me  to  you,  and  now  swear  unto  me  that  ye  will  obey  me  in  all 
things  that  I  command.'  And  they  all  swore  to  him:  'We  will 
do  all  things  that  thou  commandest.'  Then  said  Simon  Cephas: 
Ye  know  that  he  who  was  hung  [upon  the  cross]  was  an  enemy  to 
the  Israelites  and  the  Law,  because  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
[i,  14],  Your  new  moons  and  festivals  my  soul  hateth.  And  that 
he  had  no  pleasure  in  the  Israelites,  according  to  the  saying  of 
Hosea  [i,91.  Ye  are  not  my  people.  Now,  although  it  is  in  mypower 
to  blot  them  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  from  ofif  the  face  of  the 
earth,  yet  will  he  not  root  them  out,  but  will  keep  them  ever  in 
the  midst  of  you  as  a  witness  of  his  stoning  and  hanging  on  a 
tree.  He  endured  those  pains  and  the  punishment  of  death,  to 
redeem  your  souls  from  hell.  And  now^  he  warns  and  commands 
you  to  do  no  harm  to  the  Jew.  Yea,  even  should  a  Jew  say  to  a 
Nazai-ene,  Go  with  me  a  mile,  he  shall  go  with  him  twain;  or 
should  a  Nazarene  be  smitten  by  a  Jew  on  one  cheek,  let  him  turn 
to  him  the  other  also  [Matt,  v,  39;  Luke  vi,  29],  that  the  Jews 
may  enjoy  their  good  things ;  for  in  the  world  to  come  they  must 
suffer  their  punishment  in  hell.  If  ye  do  these  things  then  shall 
ye  merit  to  sit  with  them  [the  apostles]  on  the  thrones  [Matt, 
xix,  28].' 

"  Then  Simon  said:  '  I  am  Simon  Ben  Kalpus,  uncle  of  Jeshu. 
Jeshu  came  and  sent  me  unto  you  to  teach  you  his  law,  for  he  is 
the  Son  of  God.  And  lo  I  I  will  give  you  the  law  of  Jesus,  which 
is  a  new  commandment.'  Then  he  wrought  before  them  signs  and 
wonders.  He  also  wi'ote  books  in  the  names  of  the  disciples  of 
Jeshu,  and  especially  in  that  of  Johannes  [John],  and  said  that 
Jeshu  had  given  him  these.  But  with  special  purpose  he  composed 
the  Book  of  Johannes  [Apocalypse  or  Revelation],  for  the  men  of 
Ai  thought  it  contained  mysteries,  whereas  it  contained  pure  in- 
vention. For  instance,  he  wrote  in  the  Book  of  Johannes  that 
Johannes  saw  a  beast  with  seven  heads  and  seven  horns  and  sev(>n 
crowns  ;  and  the  name  of  the  beast  was  Blasphemy,  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  beast  was  666.     [Rev.  xii,  3;  xiii,  1.] 

"  When,  now,  the  elders  and  wise  men  heard  of  what  was  done, 
they  came  to  the  king  and  consulted  him  and  his  council.  Then 
answered  Judas,  son  of  Zachar:  'I  am  the  first  of  the  king's 
princes;  I  will  go  myself  and  see  if  it  be  true  what  is  said,  that 


684  Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

this  man  blasphemeth.'  After  that  Judas  went  to  Jerusalem. 
.  .  .  Now,  when  Judas  was  come  to  Jerusalem,  he  related  to  the 
king  and  the  elders  the  words  and  deeds  of  Jeshu,  and  how, 
through  the  power  of  the  incommunicable  Name,  he  had  wrought 
such  wonders  that  the  people  of  Ai  believed  on  him.  Then  the 
king  and  the  elders  asked  counsel  of  Judas  how  they  might  take 
Jeshu  and  his  disciples." 

6,  Conspiracy  of  Judas.     "Therefore,  the  wise  men  went  forth  with  sad 

hearts,  and  one  turned  to  another  and  said  :  '  Let  us  use  subtlety, 
that  we  may  get  him  into  our  hands.'  And  one  said  to  another: 
'If  it  seems  right  unto  you,  let  one  of  us  learn  the  Name  as  he 
[Jeshu]  did,  and  work  miracles,  and  perchance  we  shall  secure 
him.'  And  this  counsel  pleased  the  elders  ;  and  they  said :  '  He  who 
will  learn  the  Name,  and  secure  the  Fatherless  One,  shall  receive 
a  double  reward  in  the  future  life.'  And  thereupon  one  of  the 
elders  stood  up,  whose  name  was  Judas,  and  he  spake  unto  them 
saying;  'Ai"e  ye  agreed  to  take  upon  you  the  blame  of  such  action, 
if  I  speak  the  incommunicable  Name  ?  For  if  so,  I  will  learn  it, 
and  it  may  happen  that  God  in  his  mercy  may  bring  the  Fatherless 
One  into  my  power.'  Then  they  all  cried  out  with  one  voice:  '  The 
guilt  be  on  us  ;  but  do  thou  make  the  effort  and  succeed.'  There- 
upon he  went  into  the  Holiest  Place,  and  did  what  Jeshu  had 
done."  [Afterwards  Judas  is  represented  as  woi-king  miracles  by 
the  use  of  the  incommunicable  Name,  and  in  contest  with  Jeshu, 
Judas  overcomes  him,  and  the  power  of  Jeshu  leaves  him,  and  he 
was  subjected  to  the  taunts  of  his  captors,  the  elders.]  "Now 
when  the  disciples  saw  this,  and  all  the  multitude  of  sinners  who 
had  followed  him,  they  fought  against  the  elders  and  the  wise  men 
of  Jerusalem,  and  gave  Jeshu  opportunity  to  escape  out  of  the 
city.  And  he  hasted  to  the  Jordan ;  and  when  he  had  washed 
therein,  his  power  returned,  and  with  the  Name,  he  again  wrought 
his  former  miracles.  Thereafter  he  went  and  took  two  millstones 
and  made  them  swim  on  the  water ;  and  he  seated  himself  thereon, 
and  caught  fishes  to  feed  the  multitude  that  followed  him." 

7.  The  Royal  March.    [At  length  Jesus  is  invited  by  the  deputation  from 

Jerusalem  headed  by  Ananias  and  Achasias,  by  deceit  and  treach- 
ery, to  come  to  that  city.]  "And  Jeshu  said,  I  will  go  forthwith 
on  my  way !  And  it  came  to  pass  when  he  had  come  as  far  as  Nob, 
nigh  unto  Jerusalem  [a  city  near  and  in  sight  of  Jerusalem,  in  the 
territory  of  Benjamin,  by  which  the  Assyrians  approached  the 
city  mentioned  in  Isa.  x,  28-32],  that  he  said  to  his  followers: 
'  Have  ye  here  a  good  and  comely  ass  ?'  They  answered  him  that 
there  was  one  even  at  hand.  Therefore  he  said:  *  Bring  him  hither 
to  me.'  And  so  a  stately  ass  was  brought  unto  him,  and  he  sat 
upon  it  and  rode  into  Jerusalem.  And  as  Jeshu  entered  into  the 
city,  all  the  people  went  forth  to  meet  him.    Then  he  cried  saying : 


Appendix.  685 

'  Of  me  did  the  prophet  Zacharias  testify,  Behold  thy  King  cometh 
unto  thee,  righteous  and  a  Savior,  poor  and  riding  on  an  ass,  and  a 
colt  the  foal  of  an  ass.'  [Compare  Matt,  xxi,  1-11 ;  Mark  xi,  1-11 ; 
Luke  xix,  29-40;  John  xii,  12-16.]  Now  when  they  heard  this, 
they  all  wept  bitterly  and  rent  their  clothes." 

8.  Arrest  of  Jesus.      [Judas  forewarns   the  elders   of  the   Sanhedrin   of 

Christ's  coming  to  Jerusalem,  and  on  arriving  and  entering  the 
temple,  he  is  attacked  by  armed  men.  Judas  is  identified  as  one  of 
the  disciples  of  Jeshu;  but  the  Jewish  servants  do  not  know  him 
from  being  a  disciple ;  so  Judas  casts  himself  down  befoi-e  Jeshu, 
and  thus  indicates  to  the  armed  men  whom  they  are  to  capture. 
Some  disciples  offer  resistance,  but  are  readily  overcome,  and  be- 
take themselves  to  the  mountains,  where  they  are  caught  and 
killed.] 

"But  the  elders  of  Jerusalem  led  Jeshu  in  chains  into  the 
city,  and  bound  him  to  a  marble  pillar,  and  scourged  him  [Matt, 
xxvii,  26;  John  xix,  1],  and  said:  '  Where  are  now  all  the  miracles 
thou  hast  wrought?'  And  they  plaited  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  set 
it  on  his  head."  "  But  when  the  feast  of  the  Passover  drew  nigh, 
it  was  heralded  through  all  the  land  of  Judaea  that  any  one  who 
had  aught  to  say  in  favor,  and  for  the  exculpation  of  Jeshu,  should 
declare  it  before  the  king." 

9.  Sentence  of  Jesus.     "Then  they  led  Jeshu  forth  before  the  Greater 

and  the  Less  Sanhedrin,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  be  stoned,  and 
then  to  be  hung  on  a  tree."  "  Therefore,  on  the  eve  of  the  Pass- 
over, Jeshu  was  brought  out  of  the  prison  ;  and  they  cried  before 
him:  '  So  may  all  thine  enemies  perish,  O  Lord  !' "  "And  it  was  on 
the  eve  of  the  Passover*  and  of  the  Sabbath." 
10.  Crucifixion  of  Jesus.  "  And  they  led  him  forth  to  the  place  where  the 
punishment  of  stoning  was  wont  to  be  executed,  and  they  stoned 
him  there  till  he  was  dead.  And  after  that  the  wise  men  hung 
him  on  the  tree ;  but  no  tree  would  bear  him ;  each  brake  and 
yielded."  "And  they  hanged  him  on  a  tree  outside  of  Jerusalem, 
as  the  king  and  elders  of  Jerusalem  had  commanded.  And  all 
Israel  looked  on  and  glorified  God." 

*The  Jewish  Talmud,  which  is  the  basis  of  these  two  writings,  states:  "The 
tradition  Is,  that  on  the  eve  of  the  Passover,  Jesus,  .  .  .  the  son  of  Mary,  was 
hanged  "  [on  a  cross.  Comp.  Acts  v,  80-33,  and  x,  89].  (Babylonian  Talmud,  Tract 
Sanhedrin,  fol.  43a.)  Again,  "No  defense  could  be  found;  therefore  they 
hanged  him  upon  the  eve  of  the  Passover."  (Bab.  Tal.  Tract.  Sanhedr.  fol.  (57a.) 
And  again,  "But  I  say  his  mother  was  Stada;  and  thej'  hanged  him  up  on  the 
eve  of  the  Passover."    (Bab.  Tal.  Sanhedr.  67a.) 

Thus  the  Jewish  Talmud  confesses  to  the  following  facts,  viz.: 

1.  That  the  Per.ion  executed  was  no  other  than  ''■Jesus:"  "  The  tradition  is  that  Je- 

sus,   .    .    .    the  son  of  Mary." 

2.  That  Jesus  was  put  to  death  by  crucifixion:  "  Tfmt  Jesus  luas  hanged  up." 

8.  That  his  crucifixion  occurred  at  a  known  date:  "  They  hanged  him  up  on  the  eve 
of  the  Passover." 
44 


686         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

ll.Incidents  of  the  Crucifixion.  "  Then  the  Fathei-less  was  in  anguish 
through  thirst,  and  he  cried,  saying:  'Give  me  water  to  drink!' 
[John  xix,  28.]  So  they  gave  him  acid  vinegar  [Psa.  Ixix,  21 ;  Matt, 
xxvii,  34;  John  xix,  29,  30]  ;  and  after  he  had  drunk  thereof,  he 
cried :  '  Of  me  did  my  father  David  prophesy.  They  gave  me  gall 
to  eat,  and  in  my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to  drink.'  But  they 
answered :  '  If  thou  wert  God,  why  didst  thou  not  know  it  was  vin- 
egar before  tasting  it  ?  Now  thou  art  at  the  brink  of  the  gi'ave, 
and  changest  not !'  But  Jesus  wept  and  said:  '  My  God,  my  God  ! 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !'  [Matt,  xxvii,  46.]  And  the  elders 
said:  '  If  thou  be  God,  save  thyself  from  our  hands.'  [Matt,  xxvii, 
39-43;  Mark  xv,  29-32;  Luke  xxiii,  36,  37.]  But  Jesus  answered, 
saying:  'My  blood  is  shed  for  the  redemption  of  the  world;  for 
Isaiah  prophesied  of  me :  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
and  bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  our  chastisement  lies  upon  him 
that  we  may  have  peace,  and  by  his  wounds  we  are  healed.'  [Isa. 
liii,  5.]" 

12.  Burial  of  Jesus.    "And  when  even  was  come,  the  wise  men  said: 

'  We  may  not,  on  account  of  the  Fatherless,  break  the  letter  of  the 
law  which  forbids  that  one  who  is  hung,  should  remain  all  night 
on  the  tree.  Though  he  may  have  set  at  naught  the  law,  yet 
will  not  we.'  [John  xix,  31.]  Now  when  even  was  come,  Judas 
took  down  the  body  of  Jeshu  from  the  tree,  and  laid  it  in  his  gar- 
den in  a  conduit."  "  Therefore  they  buried  the  Fatherless  in  the 
place  where  he  was  stoned.  [John  xix,  41,  42.]  And  when  mid- 
night was  come,  the  disciples  came  and  seated  themselves  on  the 
grave,  and  wept  and  lamented  him.  Now  when  Judas  saw  this, 
he  took  the  body  away,  and  buried  it  in  his  garden  under  a  brook. 
He  diverted  the  waters  of  the  brook  elsewhere ;  but  when  the 
body  was  laid  in  its  bed,  he  brought  its  waters  back  again  into  its 
former  channel." 

13.  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension.     "  Now  on  the   morrow,  when    the 

disciples  had  assembled  and  had  seated  themselves  weeping,  Judas 
came  to  them  and  said :  '  Why  weep  ye?  Seek  ye  him  who  was 
buried?'  [John  xx,  11-15.]  And  they  dug  and  sought,  and 
found  him  not ;  and  all  the  coinpany  cried :  *  He  is  not  in  the 
gi'ave ;  he  is  risen  and  ascended  into  heaven ;  for  wlien  he  was 
alive  yet,  he  said  he  would  raise  him  up.  Selah ! '  And  some  of 
these  went  to  Ai,  and  declared  that  on  the  third  day  after 
Jeshu  had  been  hung,  fire  had  fallen  from  heaven,  which  sur- 
rounded Jeshu,  and  he  had  risen  alive,  and  gone  up  to  heaven." 

"Now  there  was  among  them  an  elder  whose  name  was  Tan- 
chuma.  .  .  And  the  Rabbi  Tanchuma  answered  [Judas] : 
*  Jeshu  the  Fatherless  is  the  occasion  [of  this  new  fast] ;  for  he 
was  hung  up  and  buried  on  the  spot  where  he  was  stoned  ;  but 
now  he  is  taken  away,  and  we  know  not  where  he  is  gone.     And 


Appendix. 


687 


his  woi'thless  disciples  cry  out  that  he  is  ascended  into  heaven.'" 
[Then  Judas  produced  the  body  of  the  Fatherless  from  his  own 
garden.]  "Then  the  Rabbi  Tanchuma  hastened  to  the  elders  of 
Israel  and  told  them  all,  and  they  came  together  and  drew 
him  [Jeshu]  forth  attached  to  the  tail  of  a  horse,  and  brought 
him  before  the  queen  and  said  :  '  See,  this  is  the  man  who  they  say 
has  ascended  into  heaven.'  "  [Simon  Cephas  is  then  represented 
as  saying],  "And  this  also  doth  he  require  of  you,  that  ye  do  not 
celebrate  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,  but  that  ye  keep  holy 
the  day  on  which  he  died.  And  in  the  place  of  the  Feast  of  the 
Pentecost,  that  ye  keep  the  fortieth  day  after  his  stoning,  on 
which  he  went  up  into  heaven." 

14.  Change  of"  the  Sabbath.  "Therefore  they  arose  and  desecrated  the 
Sabbath."  "Therefore  they  abolished  the  law,  and  chose  the 
first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Sabbath,  for  that  was  the  birthday 
of  Jesus  ;  and  they  ordained  many  other  customs  and  bad  feasts. 
Therefore  have  they  no  part  and  lot  in  Israel.  They  are  accursed 
in  this  world,  and  accursed  in  the  world  to  come.  But  the  Lord 
bless  his  people  Israel  with  peace.  These  are  the  words  of  Rabbi 
Jochanan,  son  of  Saccai  in  Jerusalem." 

[The  foregoing  extracts  taken  from  Baring-Gould's  Lost  and 
Hostile  Gospels,  occur  as  follows:  the  First  Toledoth  Jeshu,  on 
pages  76-101 ;  the  Second  Toledoth  Jeshu,  on  pages  102-115.] 

EXHIBIT  A. 
Thb  Chronology  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  the  first  scheme  following,  the  first  four  persons  named  are  known 
as  eminent  Christian  authors  of  the  orthodox  faith ;  those  following  are 
recognized  critics  of  the  negative  school,  rationalists  of  views  more  or 
less  liberal  respecting  the  Scriptui-es.  Their  several  opinions  as  to  the 
dates  when  the  Historical  Books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written 
are  here  indicated. 


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t50-67 

41-48 

60-6.3 

6»-69 

66 

68 

70 

70 

70 

84 

105-115 

130 

Mark 

60-67 

63 

67-68 

68-6!) 

00 

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6!) 

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76 

73 

150 

Luke 

64-66 

50-.58 

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90 

80 

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100 

94 

100-103 

14(1 

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123 

120 

98 

140 

27 

150 

170 

Acts 

61 

6.3 

(Hi-dl 

] 

20 

688 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testajvient. 


a)  THE  historical  BOOKS. 


Book 


1.  Synoptic  Gospels 
First  Gospel 

Second  Gospel  ... 

Third  Gospel 

2.  Fourth  Gospel  ... 

3.  Acts  of  Ajiostles ... 


Writer 


Matt. 
Mark 
Luke 
John 
Luke 


Place 


Judaea 

Rome 
Osesarea 
Ephesus  ' 

Rome 


Addressed  to 

Date 

Key  Thought 

Jewish  Christians.. 

60-65 

Jesus  the  true 
Messiah. 

Roman  Christians 

60-65 

Jesus  the  Son 
of  man. 

Greek  Christians  .. 

58-65 

Jesus  the  Re- 
deemer of  men. 

Christian  Church .. 

90-95 

Jesvis  Incarnate 
Son  of  God 

Gentile   World 

5&-67 

/3)    THE  PAULINE  EPISTLES. 


Writings 


4.  Earliest  Epistles : 
Two  in  number. 

1.  Thessalonians . 

2.  Thessalonians. 

5.  Epistles  univer- 
sally accredited: 
Four  in  number. 

Galatians 

1.  Corinthians 

2.  Corinthians 

Romans 

6.  Epistles  of  his 
Captivity:  Three. 

Phllippians 

Ephesians 

Colosslans 

7.  Pastoral  Epistles 
Three. 

1.  Timothy 

2.  Timothy 

Titus 

8.  07ie  Personal 
Epistle: 

Philemon 

9.  One  General 
Epistle: 

Hebrews 


Place 


Corinth 
Corinth 


Corinth  or 
Ephesus 

Macedonia 
Macedonia 
Corinth 


CsBsarea  or 
Rome 

Rome 
Rome 


Macedonia 

Rome 

Macedonia 

Rome 

Palestine 


Addressed  to 


Thessalonlan 

Christians... 

Thessalonlan 

Christians... 


Cliurch  in        ) 

GalaLia ) 

Church  in         i 

Corinth ( 

Church  in        > 

Corinth J 

Christians  at  / 

Rome s 

Church  at  ) 
Phillppi I 

Church  at  ) 
Ephesus S 

Church  at  \ 
Colosse j 

His  Convert  ) 
Timothy j 

His  Convert 
Timothy S 

Titus  of  Crete 


Master  of 
Onesimus  , 


.} 


Jewish 
Christians.. 


Date 


58-60 
62-6:3 
61-63 

62-65 
65-«6 
65 

6^ 

63, 64 


Key  Thought 


(  Second  Advent  of 
)      Jesus  Christ. 
J  Misapprehensions  of 
)     advent  corrected. 


Salvation  by  faith, 

j  Resurrection  of 

(     Jesus  Christ. 

j  Defense  of  his  own 

1     apostleship. 

j  Sin  and  the  power 

\    of  grace. 


f  Spiritual  encour- 

\     agements. 

(  Unity  of  the 

(     Christians. 

j  Corrections  of  heret- 

l     leal  views. 


I  Church  officers  and 

/     tlieir  duties. 

f  Apprehension  of  his 

t     own  death. 

f  Persons  of  Churchly 

I     offices. 


J  Slavery  or  freedom 
(     of  Onesimus. 


J  High  Priesthood  of 
\     Jesus  Christ. 


Appendix. 


689 


7)   THE  CATHOLIC  EPISTLES. 

Writings 

Place 

Addressed  to 

Date 

Key  Thought 

I.  James 

Jerusalem... 

Babylon 

Unknown... 

Jewish              ) 
Christians...  ( 

The  Dis- 
persed Jews  i 

The  Church 
In  general...  j 

The  General    \ 
Church ]■ 

To  the  Elect   ( 
Lady \ 

Elder  Be-        j 
loved  Galus  J 

63-64 

64 

65 

90-95 

90-95 

90-95 

j  Duties:  prayer, 
(     faith,  works. 
j  Encouragements  in 
\     Christian  life. 
j  The  new  heaven 
(     and  new  earth. 
j  Love  of  Jesus  and 
(     the  brethren. 
j  Loyal  obedience  to 
(     Jesus  Christ. 
j  The  general  state  of 
1     the  Church. 

2.  1  Peter 

8.  2  Peter 

4.  1  John 

5.  2  John 

Ephesus 

Ephesus 

6.  3  John 

5)    BOOK  OF  REVELATION. 

The  Apocalypse 

Patmos*  or 
Ephesus... 

Seven               ^ 
Churches  of  > 
Asia J 

96-98 
or 
68-69 

r*The  consummation 
1     of  all  things. 

*If  the  Apostle  John  was  banished  to  Patmos  under  the  reign  of  Nero,  as  the 
internal  evidence  indicates,  he  wrote  the  Apocalypse  about  A.  D.  68  or  69;  but  the 
Gospel  and  Epistles  were  written  at  the  later  date  given.  This  view  Is  accepted 
by  Neander,  Liicke,  Bleek,  Ewald,  DeWette,  Baur,  Hllgenfeld,  Reuss,  Diister- 
dieck,  Weiss,  R6nan,  Stanley,  Asbe,  Stuart,  Davidson,  Cowles,  Bishop  Llghtfoot, 
Westcott,  and  Schaff.  But  the  older  coTnmentators  and  some  recent  ones,  among 
whom  are  Elliott,  Alford,  Hengstenberg,  Ebrard,  Lange,  Hofmann,  Qodet,  Lee, 
etc.,  favor  the  traditional  date  as  the  external  evidence  indicates,  which  Is  A.  D.  96, 
after  Domitlan's  death.  John  Is  said  to  have  died  a  natural  death  in  the  reign  of 
Trajan  about  A.  D.  98.  (See  on  this  Schaff,  Hist.  Christ  Church,  1,  429,  note  1;  834, 
note  2  and  3.) 

EXHIBIT  B. 
Table  op  High  Priests  and  Roman  Procurators. 


A  COMPLETE  CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  THE    ROMAN  PROCURATORS 

OF  JUD^A. 

No. 

High  Priests 

Date 

Procurators  of  Jud^a 

Date 

1 

Annas  or  Ananus,  son  of  Seth 

A.  D. 
6 

Appointed  by  Augustus 
Coponlus 

A.  D. 
6-9 
9-12 

12-16 

Marcus  Aniblvius 

Annius  Rufus 

2 
3 
4 
6 

6 

Ishmael,  son  of  Fabus 

15 
17 
18 

34 
36 

Appointed  by  Tiberius 

15-26 
26-36 
36,87 

Eleazar,  son  of  Annas 

Simon,  son  of  Camlthus 

Joseph  Calaphas,  son-in-law    of 

Marcellus*  or  Marcus 

Jonathan,  son  of  Annas 

690 


Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 


No. 

High  Pkiests 

Date 

Pkoourators  of  Jud^a 

Date 

7 
8 

Theophilus,  son  of  Annas 

37 
41 

Appointed  by  Cahsula 

MaruUus  +  or  Marylllus 

Publlus  Patronius 

Herod  Agrippa  I,  king 

37-39 
89-41 
41-44 

Simon  Canthera,  son  of  Boethus.. 

9 
10 

11 

12 
13 

14 

42 

43 

45 
47 
47 
69 

Appointed  by  Claudius 
Cuspius  Fadus 

44-46 
46-48 
48-52 
62-60 

Aljoneus,    or    Eliouseus,    son   of 
Cantheras 

Joseph,  son  of  Camydus 

Ananias,  son  of  Nebseus 

Ishmael,  son  of  Fabl,  junior 

15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 

61 
62 
62 
63 
65 
67 

Appointed  by  Nero 

60-62 
62-64 
64-70 

69,70 

Ananus,  son  of  Annas 

Jesus,  son  of  Damnseus 

Jesus,  son  of  Gamaliel 

Marcus  An  tonius                 ) 
Julianas^ j 

*  Appointed  pro  tern,  upon  the  removal  of  Pontius  Pilate  from  the  pro- 
curatorship  in  A.  D.  36.  Publius  Patronius,  President  of  Syria  governed  Judasa 
89-41,  when  Herod  Agrippa  I  had  Judaea  added  to  his  Itingdom  from  41  to  44,  when 
the  king  died,  and  Judaea  lapsed  into  a  province  under  a  procurator. 

tMarullus  was  titled  "  Hipparch,'"  or  "  Master  of  the  Horse:"  'lirirdpxov  iirl 
TTJc  'lovdaiag-  iKTviixnei  MipvWov.     (Joseph.  Ant.  xviii,  6, 10.) 

5  Julianus  is  inexactly  called  iiriTpoirog-  for  procurator  by  Josephus  (  Wars,  vi, 
4,  2) ;  but  probably  never  governed,  but  identified  himself  with  the  army  of  Titus, 
which  completely  obliterated  the  Jewish  nationality  in  A.  D.70. 

EXHIBIT  0. 

A  Comparative  View  of  the  Opinions  of  Pre-eminent  Critics 

Respecting  the  Chronology  op  These  Witnesses 

and  Documents. 

first  century  :  a.  d.  30-130. 


03 

a 

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f 

to 

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33 

"Witnesses 

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Documents. 

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w 

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Seneca 

d.i  65 

Paul 

52-63  2 
70 

70-100 

97-98 
100 

40-1 10 

100 

100 
100 

109 

Martial 

Didach^ 

107 
120 

115-116 
98-138 

100 
b.i68 

100 
110 

ib.=born;  d.=died. 


2  Date  of  writing. 


Appendix. 


691 


Witnesses 

AND 

Documents. 

•M 

Q 

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109-1112 
98-1173 
117-1383 

d.1103 

150 

95 

97-100 
107-108 
d.  155 
117-137 
117-137 
126-150 

61-115 

Ant.  93 
TFars,  100 

93-101 
119-126 

d.  166 

b.i61 

b.  87 

68-81 
70-79 

d.  155 
12:^126 
125-127 

106-107 
106-107 
117 
Wars.  75 
Ant.  93 
180 

96 

70-79 

70-107 

108 

123 

123 

95 

70-79 
100-110 
d.  155 

180-210 

117 

70-80 
117 

100-105 

96 
70-79 

d.l55 

Trajau 

Hadrian 

Josephus 

Talmud 

Toledoth  Jeshu 
Clement  (Rome) 
Barnabas 

Ignatius 

Polycarp 

Aristides 

Quadratus 

SECOND  CENTURY  :   A.  D.  180-230. 

Aurellus 

161-180 
161-180 

b.  120 

d.200 

147-1.50 
155-229 
d.I80 

170 
177 

177-190 
b.l50 

198-211 

200 

138-161 
154-166 

150 

130-200 
148-165 
155-229 

177 

198-211 

b.  121 
176 

137-161 

180 

177 
b.  125 

192 

176 
176 

176 

180 
140 
230 
173 

177 
167 

194 

200 

165 
165 

140-160 

b.  120 
b.  120 

161-180 
150-160 

138-139 

177 
177 

145-146 

157-168 

170 
169 
130-220 

165-220 

150 

170 

170 

170 

180 

d.I85* 

197* 

Luclan \ 

Galen 

Justin 

Dion  Casslus 

Hegesippus    

Muratorlan 

Mellto 

Apollonius 

Clement 

(Alexandria).. 
Tertullian 

THIRD  CENTURY  :  A.  D.  230-330. 

245-248 
290-300 
d.  330 

315 

812-337 

363 

270 

302-329 

284-305 

361-363' 

246 
b.233 

304 
361-363 

230 
270 
306 
303 
815 

361 

304 

225-254 

160-240 

Lactantlus 

Hierocles 

Constantlne 

_ 

1  b.=  born,  d.  =  died. 
2 Date  of  writing. 


'Emperor's  reign. 

^Opinion  of  Conybeare  and  Howson. 


692         Historical  Evidence  of  the  New  Testament. 

EXHIBIT    D. 

Table  of  Contemporaneous  Witnesses. 

The  design  of  this  Exhibit  is  to  represent  the  interlapping  in  the 
lives  of  contemporaries  who  witness  to  facts  recorded  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, whether  friends  or  foes.  It  serves  to  give  in  one  view  the  unity 
and  continuity  of  their  collective  testimony.  Each  line  is  based  upon 
the  supposed  or  known  date  of  the  author's  birth.  Also  the  evidential 
date  and  value  of  the  documents  related  to  different  times  and  countries 
should  be  carefully  noted. 

B.  C.  8  Seneca,  65  A.  D. 
A.  D.  1  Apostle  John,  95-100. 
A.  D.  2  Apostle  Paul,  66  or  67. 
A.  D.  37  Josephus,  105. 
A.  D.  40  Barnabas,  126. 
A.  D.  40  Epictetus,  105. 
A.  D.  43  Martial,  110. 
A.  D.  45  Clement  of  Rome,  101. 
A.  D.  50  Tacitus,  117. 
A.  D.  52  Trajan,  117. 
A.  D.  60  Juvenal,  105. 
A.  D.  60  Ignatius,  107. 
A.  D.     61  Pliny  Junior,  118. 
A.  D.  69  Polycarp,  155. 
A.  D.  123  Celsus,  188.         A.  D.  70  Suetonius,  130. 
A.  D.  125  Irenseus,  202.      A.  D.  76  Hadrian,  138. 
A.  D.  130  Galen,  200.  A.  D.  83  Aristides,  144. 

A.  D.  150  Apollomus,  240.  A.  D.  84  Quadratus,  148. 

A.  D.  150  Tertulhan,  240.  A.  D.  105  Justin,  165. 

A.  D.  150  Clement  of  Alex'a.,  220.    A.  D.  105  Hegesippus,  180. 
A.  D.  155.  Dion  Cassius,  210.  A.  D.  120  Melito,  188. 

A.  D.  185  Origen,  254.         A.  D.  120  Lucian,  190. 
A.  D.  239  Porphyry,  310.     A.  D.  121  Aurelius,  180. 
A.  D.  250  Lactantius,  327. 
A.  D.  255  Hierocles,  310. 
A.  D.  270  Eusebius,  340. 
Mara,  dating  A.  D.  70.        A.  D.  272  Constantine,  337. 
Diadachg,  A.  D.  70-100.        A.  D.  331  Julian,  363. 
Logia  of  the  Lord,  A.  D.  100-150. 
Epistle  to  Diognetus,  A.  D.  125-150. 
Muratorian  Canon,  A.  D.  170. 
Jewish  Talmud,  A.  D.  100-150. 
Toledoth  Jeshu  (Hist,  of  Jesus),  date  unknown. 


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INDEX. 


A. 

Page. 

Abbot,  Dr.  Ezra,  on  the  Golden  Age  of  mankind, 23 

Consensus  of  the  books  of  the  N.  T.,       627 

Abrabanel,  Rabbi,  on  the  Star  of  the  Messiah, 74,  75 

Accompaniments  of  Christ's  Nativity, 63-89 

Adams,  Dr.  Nehemiah,  on  Zoroaster,  and  the  Magi  of  the  East,  .   .  72 

Administrations,  remarkable  changes  in, 385-411 

Adversaries  of  Christianity  classified, 12 

Advocates  of  Christianity  classified, 13 

Agabus  predicts  a  great  famine, 420,421 

Age,  The  Golden,  of  the  vrorld, 24-26,  32 

Agrippa  I,  Herod,  king  of  Judaea, 481-489 

His  parentage,  birth  and  death, 481 

His  surname,  title  and  religiiui, 481,482 

His  early  relations  w^ith  Caligula, 482 

Is  imprisoned  by  Emperor  Tiberius 482 

Caligula's  grandmother  intercedes, 582 

Tiberius  dies  and  Caligula  succeeds, 482 

Agrippa  is  exalted  to  royalty, 482,483 

Departs  to  his  kingdom  of  Judaea, 483 

His  royalty  mocked  in  Alexandria,  Egypt, 483 

Soon  returns  to  Rome  on  religious  mission, 483 

Caligula,  insane,  claims  Divine  honors, 483,484 

Agrippa  dissuades  him  fi'om  erecting  his  statue  in  the  Jewish 

Temple, 483-485 

Caligula  dies  and  Claudius  succeeds 485 

His  accession  largely  due  to  Agi-ippa, 485 

Claudius  confirms  and  enlarges  Agrippa's  kingdom, 485 

Agi'ippa  distressed  about  his  eligibility  to  be  ruler  of  the 

Jews 485,486 

Is  humiliated  by  his  superior,  Vibius,  president  of  Syria,    .   .         486 

A  coin  of  Agrippa's  sovereignty, 486,500 

Agrippa  beheads  the  Apostle  James, 487 

Visits  Csesarea  to  honor  the  Emperor, 487 

Appears  in  theater  in  amazing  splendor, 487 

Is  there  smitten  with  death, 487,488 

Accounts  thereof  by  Luke  and  Josephus  compared, 488, 489 

Agrippa  II,  Herod,  son  of  Agrippa  I, 489-493 

Distinguished  from  his  father,  in  the  New  Testament,  ....  489, 490 

695 


696  Index. 

Page. 

His  youth  and  education  at  Rome, 490 

Is  early  appointed  King  of  Chalcis, 490, 491 

Soon  transferred  to  a  greater  kingdom, 491 

Is  appointed  superintendent  of  Jews'  Temple,  manager  of 

their  treasury,  with  power  to  remove  high  priests,    ....         491 
Claudius  dies,  and  Nero  succeeds,  who  adds  cities  and  villages 

to  Agrippa's  realm, 491 

Agrippa  issues  coin  in  Nero's  honor, 491,500 

Visits  Csesarea,  and  hears  Paul's  defense  of  his  faith,  ....  492,493 
In  the  war,  joins  Eoman  forces  against  his  own  Jewish 

subjects, 493 

Alexander  the  Great,  brought  Greek  letters  into  Palestine,  ...  24 

On  meeting  Jews,  is  amazed  beholding  on  the  High  Priest's 

miter  the  name  Jehovah, 571,  573 

Offers  sacrifices  in  the  Jews'  Temple, 572 

Alexamenos,  a  caricature  of  the  crucified  Christ, 374, 375 

Alford,  Dr.  Henry,  an  epitome  of, 389 

On  disposition  of  criminals'  garments, 399 

His  reason  for  calling  a  tetrarch  a  "  king," *479 

His  explanation  of  the  term  'NeuKdpos *  462 

Andrew's  discovery  of  the  Messiah, 49 

Anonymous  writer's  conception  of  miracle, 119, 164 

Anticipations  of  Messiah,     21-39 

Chaldaic  Targum,  The,  on  his  Advent, 28,  29 

Jewish  Talmud,  The,  on  Messiah's  birth, 26-28 

Anticipates  his  Incarnation, 27-31 

Jewish  People's  expectations, 29-31 

Other  nations  looked  for  a  Messiah, 31-33 

Messiah  of  Canaanites  and  Samaritans, 32 

Christ's  own  claim  to  Messiahship  discussed, 35-39 

Antioch,  in    Syria,  where  Christ's   followers   were  first  called 

Christians, 316 

Antipas,  Herod,  the  Tetrarch 477^81 

His  character  as  a  man  and  ruler, 99, 100 

How  settled  over  his  Tetrarchy, 99,100 

Intrigue  and  marriage  with  Herodias, 100,480 

His  imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist, 100 

Machaerus,  the  name  and  place  of  John's  prison, 102, 103 

There  Antipas  executes  the  Baptist, 103, 104 

Discussion  of  the  Tetrarch's  motives  and  vacillation,    ....  103-105 

Exposure  of  his  disloyalty  to  Caligula, 477 

Antipas  is  deposed,  confiscated,  and  banished  by  the  Emperor,  477, 478 

His  tetrarchy  transferred  to  Agrippa  I, 477,478 

Antipas's  relations  with  Jesus 477,481 

Why  a  mere  Tetrarch  is  called  King  in  the  New  Testament, 

279,  280,  and  note. 


Index.  697 

Paqb. 

Antiquities,  as  witnesses  of  sacred  history, 12 

Apologists  of  Christianity  explained, 12 

Apollonius,  The  Apologist,  an  epitome  of 346,347 

On  the  life  of  primitive  Christians, 356,  357 

The  just  an  offense  to  the  unjust, 368 

Apostles  of  Jesus,  and  their  Work, 315-342 

On  the  historical  existence  of  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  .         318 

The  four  lists  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 322 

First  called  Christians  at  Antioch, 316,  *  349 

Talmud  on  the  Apostles'  names, 319 

Toledoth  Jeshu  on  the  number,  mission,  and  success  of  the 

Apostles, 319 

Celsus  on  their  number,  and  character, 319 

Julian  on  the  success  of  the  Apostles'  mission, 319 

Testimony  of  Barnabas,  Aristides,  Tertullian,  and  Paul  on 

Christian  success 319,320 

Analysis  of  the  foregoing  testimony, 320,321 

James,  the  Lord's  brother,  becomes  also  an  Apostle,    ....  321, 322 

When  he  became  converted  to  the  faith, 322 

Pre-eminence  of  James  among  the  Jews, 323,  324 

Pre-eminence  of  James  among  Christians, 322-324 

Review  and  inductions,     326,327 

Christ's  Apostles  wrought  many  Miracles, 328-333 

Miracles  in  demand  by  their  work, 328,329 

Their  miracles  were  all  wrought  in  Christ's  name, 329 

How  adversaries  explained  miracles, 330-332 

Origen's  witness  on  the  continuance  of  miracles  in  his  time,  332 

Review  of  testimony  on  the  Apostles' miracles 332,333 

Apostles'  Mission  and  Ministry  to  the  Nations, 333-342 

The  testimony  of  disbelievers  on  the  success  of  Christianity,   333, 334 

Confirmed  by  Christian  writers, 334-336 

Christianity  and  the  Roman  Empire, 336-342 

Edicts  of  Constantine  the  Great, 336, 337 

The  apostolic  success  as  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,   .   .  337-341 

State  Church  as  organized  under  Constantine, 336,337 

Obstacles  which  opposed  the  Christian  religion,     ......  340, 341 

The  final  triumph  of  Christianity, 337-339 

Apostles'  Creed,  summarizes  the  facts  of  the  Faith, 310 

Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  (Didache), 674,675 

Apostolic  Fathei'S,  the  appellation  explained, 12,  214,  278 

Appeals  to  the  reigning  Csesar :  Agrippa  appeals  against  Antipas,  .  477, 478 

Philo  and  company  appeal  to  Rome, 452 

Suetonius  on  appeals  to  the  Emperor, 576 

Pliny  on  Christian  appeals, 576,  671 

Paul  appeals  from  Festus  to  Caesar, 447,448 

Appendix  of  this  work, 663-694 


698  Index, 

Page. 

Appian,  on  Roman  citizenship, 444 

Archseology  (see  Bennett's  Christian  Art),  on  Christian  Baptism,  109,  110 

Archelaus,  Herod,  the  Ethnarch,  .....   c 472-475 

Is  denied  royalty  by  Augustus, 472 

Made  Ethnarch  over  half  of  Judsea, 472 

Usurps  kingly  authority  at  once, 472,473 

Is  extremely  cruel  towards  his  subjects, 473 

Is  finally  deposed,  confiscated,  and  banished, 473 

Gospel's  brief  notice  of  Archelaus, 474 

Criticism  on  the  Gospel's  exactness, 474,  475,  479,  480 

Aretas,  King  of  Arabia.     On  his  Kingship  over  Damascus,     .    .    .  455,  559 

Testimony  of  Josephus,  Conybeax'e  and  Howson, 560 

Coins  of  Aretas  in  existence, 560,561 

Weiseler's  explanation  of  the  coins, 561 

Eckhel's  explanation  of  the  situation, 560,  561 

Aristides,  Marcianus,  an  epitome  of, 116,  216 

On  Christ  as  the  source  of  Christian  Eeligion, 124,230 

On  the  identity  of  the  spoken  and  vpritten  Gospel, 304 

Jesus  pierced,  died  and  was  buried, 304 

After  three  days  he  rose  and  ascended, 304 

The  Apostles  then  went  forth  preaching, 304 

The  Apostolic  Creed  partly  cited, 306 

The  practical  life  of  early  Christians, 355,  356 

Arnold,  Matthew,  an  epitome  of, 237 

On  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 239 

Arnold,  Thomas,  an  epitome  of, 347 

His  criticism  of  Gibbon  on  the  Christian  persecutions,  .   .   .         377 

Arrian,  on  feigned  Roman  citizenship, 445 

Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ, 295,  297-311 

The  sayings  of  Christ  respecting  it, 299,  300 

The  realization  attested  by  evangelists, 300, 301 

The  witness  of  Peter  and  Stephen, 301,302 

The  witness  of  John  and  Paul, 306 

Testimony  of  Jewish  adversaries, 302,  303 

Testimony  of  Roman  adversaries 303 

Testimony  of  Apostolic  Fathers, 303,304 

Testimony  of  Christian  Apologists, 304, 305 

Analysis  of  testimonies,  and  inductions  legitimated,     .   .   .   .310,311 

Astronomical  argument  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 74,  75 

Athanasius,  on  the  Founder  of  Christianity, 316 

Athens,  Paul  waiting  at, 567 

Athenians  extremely  religious, 567,  568 

The  numerous  statues  of  their  gods, 568 

Introduction  of  strange  gods  was  death, *  568 

On  the  altar  of  the  Unknown  God, 567,  569-573 

Augustus,  First  Emperor  of  Rome, 413,  415-419 


Indkx.  ()99 

Page. 

His  title  and  life 418 

How  the  appellation  Augustus  descended  to  subsequent  em- 
perors,     418,  note,  *  424 

In  authority  and  power  supreme, 416-418 

Is  angry  toward  Herod  the  Great, 466 

His  sarcasm  on  Herod's  murderous  conduct 69,467 

Augustan  band  explained, 573,  note  79,  574 

Aurelius,  Marcus  Antonius,  Emperor,  an  epitome  of, 118 

His  dislike  of  Christians  and  Christianity, 350,351 

B. 

Bacon,  Lord,  on  the  Bible, 503 

Balaam,  on  the  advent  of  the  coming  Messiah, 66 

Baptism,  the  element  and  mode, 109,  110,  127,  128 

Baptist,  John,  his  unique  place  in  history, 91-111 

The  sanctity  of  his  life  and  work, 95 

Testimony  of  Evangelists  and  Josephus, 96,  97 

Chronology  of  John's  ministry, 97 

Strauss  confirms  Luke's  accuracy, 98 

Luke  confirmed  by  Tacitus  and  Josephus, 99, 100 

Evangelists  on  John's  offense, 100 

Josephus's  confirmation  of  the  Gospels, 100,101 

Occasion  for  the  Baptist's  execution 101 

Machserus  the  place  of  John's  prison  and  death, 102, 103 

Antipas's  motive  for  beheading  John, 103 

His  vacillation  of  purpose  explained, 104, 105 

Skeptical  objection  to  the  narrative  of  the  execution,  ....  105 

John's  peculiar  relation  to  Jesus, 106, 107 

John's  unique  mission  with  his  people 108 

Confirmations  by  Christian  writers 108, 109 

Re-corroboration  by  Christian  Art, 109, 110 

Review  and  summary, 110,  111 

Bardesanes,  on  the  Lord's  day, 132 

Barker,  Joseph,  on  the  horror  of  infidelity, 635 

Bar-Kokheba,  the  false  Messiah, 73 

Issued  a  coin  bearing  a  Star, 73 

Barnabas,  epitome  of, 214-216 

Antiquity  of  his  epistle, 215, 216 

His  testimony  on  the  number  and  authority  of  the  Apostles,  623 

On  the  mii-acles  wrought  by  Christ, 623 

On  six  details  of  Christ's  sufferings, 623,624 

Barnabas  testifies  to  Christ's  crucifixion, 624 

To  his  resurrection, 624 

To  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 624 

To  the  Lord's  ascension, 624 

To  Matthew's  Gospel  as  then  "  written," 624 


700  Index. 

Page. 

Battle-ground,  ancient,  of  Christianity 591 

Baur,  Ferdinand  Christian,  epitome  of 236 

On  the  historicity  of  Christ's  resun*ection, 279,  292 

On  the  disciples'  faith  in  the  resurrection, 283 

Beale,  Professor,  on  Protoplasm  and  Bathybius, 198 

Bernice,  a  Herodian  Princess, 493,  495,  496 

Bevan,  on  Roman  citizenship, 445 

Beyschlag,  Christian  Church  the  offspring  of  a  miracle,  not  of  a  lie,         292 

On  Christ's  resurrection, 238 

Bichart,  X,  on  the  constant  changeableness  of  natural  forces,   .    .         190 

Birth-place  of  the  Messiah  designated, 26,  27,  57,  58 

Biscoe,  errors  of  classic  writers  on  apostolic  times, 456 

Talmud's  explanation  of  Paul's  scourging 447 

Blackstone,  William,  on  the  law  of  Nature,  and  the  law  of  Reve- 
lation,            503 

Body-guard  of  executed  criminals, 398, 399 

Bolingbroke,  an  epitome  of, 213 

On  Isaiah's  prediction  of  Christ's  death, 217 

Books  of  the  New  Testament, 637-639 

On  the  art  of  ancient  book-making, 637,638 

The  materials  used  in  the  art, 637,  638 

The  methods  of  ancient  writers, 638,639 

(On  the  manuscripts  of  the  Sacred  Books,  see  Manuscripts  of 
the  New  Testament)  ;  Witness  of  Roman  adversaries  to  the 
existence,  authors,  contents  and  antiquity  of  the  Books  of 

the  New  Testament, 598-626 

Emperor  Julian's  witness  to  Sacred  Books,  and  their  contents,  596-599 

On  their  apostolic  authorship, 597 

Hierocles  attests  five  sacred  books, 600,601,605 

Porphry's  witness  to  several  authors, 602,  603,  606 

Celsus  constantly  attributes  the  historical  books  to  Christ's 

disciples, 606-611 

Justin  confirms,  calling  them  "  Memoirs," 620,621 

Papias  on  Matthew,  Mark,  John  and  Peter, 622 

Origen  on  the  Gospels,  the  Johannine  and  Petrine  Epistles, 

Hebrews,  and  Revelation, 615 

Tertullian  on  six  Pauline  Epistles, 617,618 

Clement  of  Rome  cites  fourteen  books, 622,  623 

Muratorian  Canon,  on  the  origin  of  John's  Gospel, 616 

Confirmation  by  Clement  of  Alexandria, 617 

Irengeus,  on  the  Gospels, 618-620 

On  the  authority  of  Matthew's  ''written"  Gospel, 619,620 

Barnabas  on  Matthew,  the  contents,  quotations,  and  declara- 
tion of  a  "wn«en"  Gospel 623-626 

On  the  Titles  of  the  Sacred  Books, 615.  5,  626,  627,  639 

On  the  Signatures  of  the  Sacred  Writers, 614, 615 


Index.  701 

Paqb. 
Lord  Hales's  citations  of  the  New  Testament  taken  from  the 

early  Fathers 629,630 

Citations  from  all  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  by  two 
apostolic  Fathers,  and  two  Christian  Apologists,  for  two  cen- 
turies after  their  publication, 627-632 

Lardner,  Rawlinson,  and  Given,  on  citations  from  New  Testa- 
ment, compared  with  those  from  classic  writings,  as  evidence 

of  historicity, 627-631 

How  Sacred  Books  were  propei'ly  preserved, *618 

How  transmitted,  identified,  and  accepted  as  apostolic,  .   .   .         620 
How  the  Sacred  Books  were  first  burned  by  the  Eoman  gov- 
ernment,   600,  656 

Canon  of  the  Sacred  Books,  how  formed, 649-661 

(See  Council  of  Trent),     657,658 

Brewer,  Justice  David  J. ,  on  the  satisfactions  and  comforts  of  the 

Bible, 635 

Bruce,  on  Christian  miracles, 185 

Bunsen,  on  the  date  of  Barnabas's  Epistle, 215 

Burial  of  criminals'  dead  bodies, 399 

O. 

Caligula  and  Herod  Agrippa  1 482-485 

Were  educated  together  at  Rome, 481,  482 

Became  mu tally  and  warmly  attached, 482 

Caligula  becomes  Emperor,     482 

His  character  as  Emperor, •    •    •  419, 420 

He  demanded  divine  honors  to  himself, 419,  483,  484 

As  characterized  by  Edward  Gibbon, 365 

Caludius,  on  the  Star  of  the  Messiah 72 

Canaanite  cognizes  the  Messiah  in  Christ, 32 

Canon  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament, 649-660 

The  term  Canon  explained, 649 

The  Canon  and  the  Church  Councils, 650 

History  of  the  Sacred  Canon  of  the  New  Testament, 652-660 

Discussion  by  Salmon  and  Westcott, 653, 654 

William  Hone,  on  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament 651,  652 

Caricature  of  the  Crucified  Christ, 374, 375 

Tertullian  on  a  Roman  caricature, 375 

Carpenter,  Dr.  W.  B.,  epitome  of 183,184 

On  the  source  of  all  power  in  mind, 200 

Science,  man's  conception  of  the  order  of  the  universe,  .   .   .  188, 191 

Rejects  Huxley's  doctrine  of  Bathybius, 198 

Cassidorus,  on  Quirinius's  enrollments, 82 

Cassius,  Dion,  epitome  of, 94 

Great  famine  in  Italy, 523,524 

On  the  execution  of  Lollia  Paulina, 105 

45 


702  Index. 

Page. 
A  slave  bearing  a  tablet  with  a  written  accusation  thereon,  .         398 

Jews'  supei'stition  for  the  walls  of  the  Temple, 535, 586 

Catalogues,  eleven,  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament,    ....  656,  657 

Carlyle  on  Atheism  and  the  Creator, 197 

Caesars,  The,  five  in  number, 413,  415-425 

Caesarea  Philippi,  the  capital  of  Herod  Agrippa  II, 491 

Celsus,  epitome  of, 388 

On  the  Messiah,  foretold  and  honored, 35 

The  Nativity  of  Jesus, 54,  56,  58,  59,  61,  69 

On  the  Magi  (Wise  Men)  of  the  East,     73 

Slaying  of  children  of  Bethlehem, 69 

On  the  flight  of  Jesus  to  Egypt, 68,  69 

Concedes  the  fact  of  Christ's  baptism, 107 

On  the  ministry  of  our  Lord, 121-123 

He  ascribes  miracles  to  Jesus  Christ 151 

Incidents  of  Christ's  passion, 219 

His  agony  in  Gethsemane, 219,  220 

His  betrayal  by  Judas  Iscariot, 220,  319 

The  mock-royalty  to  taunt  Jesus, 220 

Scourging  inflicted  on  Christ's  person, 220,  224 

Incidents  connected  with  Christ's  death, 222 

The  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Chi-ist, 224 

His  reception  of  proffered  vinegar, 223 

The  Jews  punished  for  offering  him  gall, 223 

On  the  outcry  of  Jesus  to  the  Father, 225 

The  veritable  death  of  Jesus, 224,  267 

On  the  blood  which  followed  the  spear, 225 

Earthquake  and  preternatural  darkness, 225 

On  the  descent  of  Christ  into  Hades, 226 

The  Son  of  God  sent  to  save  the  Jews, 125,  126,  220 

Christ  the  object  of  supreme  worship, 125,  224,  373,  374 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 267 

Christ  suffered  in  behalf  of  mankind, 125,  220 

On  Jesus  as  the  God-hating  sorcerer, .151,152 

Savior  the  Son  of  the  greatest  God, 125 

On  the  disciples  of  Christ, 319 

The  inspiration  of  the  Apostles, 221 

Sacred  books  ascribed  to  Christ's  disciples, 606-611 

On  Celsus's  knowledge  of  the  New  Testament, 388,  389 

He  persecutes  the  Christians, 361 

His  mistakes  about  the  Magi  and  the  Herods, *  69, 392 

Census  or  registration, 403 

Centurion, 403,  note  46 

Christ  (see  Jesus  Christ.) 

Christ,  the  Historical, 113,  115-125 

His  unique  ministry  inaugurated,     120-124 


Index.  703 

Pask. 

His  activities  as  Leader,  Teacher,  and  Preacher, 121-123 

Christ  the  Founder  of  Christianity 123-125,  224,  228,  229 

Christianity,  The  Ancient, 125 

Its  ancient  doctrines,     125 

As  attested  by  adversaries, 125-127 

The  Institutions  of, 125-127 

Baptism,  as  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 127, 128 

The  Lord's  Supper  or  the  Eucharist, 128, 129 

The  Lord's-day, 130-134 

Council  of  Nicaea  on  the  Lord's-day, •         130 

Constantine  and  other  Christian  authorities, 130-134 

Christianity  of  Christ, 134-137 

The  atonement  made  by  Christ, 125, 126 

The  resurrection  of  the  human  body, 126 

The  immortality  of  the  human  spirit, 126 

The  general  judgment  of  mankind, 126 

The  final  punishment  of  the  incorrigible, 126,  127 

Christian  Era,  the,  and  Dionysius  Exiguus, 76,  77,  593,  594 

Christians  escape  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, *  528-530 

Christian  persecutions, 343,  345-383 

Christlieb,  Theodore,  epitome  of, 164 

On  the  miraculous  foundation  of  Gospel  history, 170 

Christ  himself  the  central  miracle  of  history, 172 

Place  of  miracles  in  the  Christian  system, .  169-210 

On  the  origin  of  living  organisms, 200 

Eeply  to  Strauss  on  explaining  a  miracle, 204,  205 

Criticism  of  Kenan's  treatment  of  miracles, 209,  210 

His  reply  to  R^nan  on  submitting  a  present  miracle  to  the 

savants  of  Paris,     207 

Chronology  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament, 687-790 

Chronological  table  of  Contemporary  Witnesses, 693,  694 

Chronology  of  John  the  Baptist's  ministry, 97 

Chronology  of  the  Apostle  John's  exile  to,  and  release  from 

Patmos, 133,  note  65 

Chrysostom,  John,  epitome  of 163 

On  the  evangelists'  want  of  signatures  to  their  Gospels,  .   .   .         614 

Chubb,  Thomas,  his  view  of  miracles, 186 

Circumstances  concurrent  with  the  Nativity  of  Jesus, 63,  65-89 

Joseph,  and  family,  and  Egypt, 67,68 

Children  of  Bethlehem  slain, 68 

The  fact  conceded  by  Celsus 69 

Testimony  of  the  Toledoth  Jeshu, 69 

Sarcastic  jest  by  Augustus  on  Herod, 69 

Maccabean  treaty  violated  by  Herod,       70 

The  Wise  men  of  the  East  and  the  Star, 71 

Nestorian  claim  about  Zoroaster  and  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  72 


704  Index. 

Page. 

Testimony  of  Caludius,  a  philosopher, 72 

The  Jewish  Talmud  and  the  Star, 72, 73 

The  Christ-impostor,  Bar-Kokheba,  and  his  star, 73 

Origen  and  Celsus  on  the  Star, 73,  74 

Patristic  testimony  on  the  Star, 73,  74 

Testimony  of  Rabbi  Abrabanel  on  the  Star, 74 

Kepler,  Schubert,  Pritchard,  Ideler,  Pingre,  and  Encke,  on  this 

astronomical  phenomenon, 75 

Edersheim,  Wieseler,  and  Schaff,  on  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  75 

The  death  of  king  Herod  the  Great, 76 

The  enrollments  under  Quirinius, 77,  78 

The  Roman  enrollment,  but  Jewish  method, 78,  79 

The  researches  of  Augustus  W.  Zumpt, 79, 80 

Cassidorus,   Suidas,  and  others  on  the  enrollment  of  the 

Nativity, 82 

Confirmation  by  Josephus,  Julian,  Justin,  Tertullian,  and 

Clement  of  Alexandria, 8i,85 

Reconfirmed  by  a  monumental  slab  bearing  an  inscription,  .      86,  87 

Summary  of  this  evidence, 87-89 

Cicero,  on  Roman  citizenship, 442-443 

Citizenship,  Roman, 441 

How  acquired  and  restricted, 444,445 

The  rights  conferred  by  law, 441-443 

Sometimes  conferred  by  sheer  caprice, 443 

The  Jews  eligible  conditionally 444,  445 

How  deprived  and  annulled, 443,444 

Citizens  exempt  from  torture  by  law 442,  446 

Feigned  citizenship  severely  punished, 445 

Citizenship  of  Paul, 446^49 

Why  did  he  not  claim  his  rights  from  scourging, 446-448 

How  the  order  was  given  to  scourge, 446 

Claudius,  the  Emperor,  epitome  of, 413,420 

His  character  as  an  Emperor, 365,417,420 

He  banished  Christian  Jews  from  Rome, 363,  422,  423 

Clay,  Henry,  his  regard  for  Christianity, 635 

Clement  of  Alexandria  (born  about  160,  died  about  215),  on  the 

first  enrollment  at  the  Nativity, 85 

On  Peter  preaching  publicly  at  Rome, 619 

Mark's  Gospel  composed  from  Peter's  preaching  , 619,  620 

On  the  origin  of  John's  Gospel, 616, 617 

On  John  the  Baptist, 108 

Clement  of  Rome,  epitome  of, 116,235 

On  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 269 

Coins  of  the  Herods 500,501 

Coin  of  Aretas, 560,  661 

Coleridge  on  miracles  and  Revelation, 164 


Index.  705 

Page. 

On  vipers  on  the  island  Malta, 578 

Comparative  table  of  witnesses, 690 

Compt<5,  on  the  subjection  of  the  intellect  of  man  to  a  law  of 

necessity, 192 

Huxley's  repudiation  of  the  doctrine, 192 

Conspectus  of  this  work, 9 

Constantine,  the  Great,  epitome  of, 118,8 

His  imperial  edicts  favorable  to  Christianity, 336,  337 

His  inauguration  of  the  State  Church, 336 

Converts  to  Christianity  called  Christians, 316,  317 

Conybeare  and  Howson,  on  Tarsus  as  a  free  city, 444 

The  Aretas  dynasty  and  Damascus, 560 

On  the  Politarchs  of  Asia, 565, 566 

•  The  identity  of  the  island  Melita  (Malta) 577,578 

Coponius,  procurator  of  Judaea,  replaces  Arclielaus  the  Ethnarch,         473 

Is  invested  with  the  power  of  life  and  death, 473 

Council  of  Nicsea, .         130 

Council  of  Trent, ; 657,658 

Critics,  on  the  chronology  of  witnesses  and  documents, 690,691 

Criteria  of  Testimonies, 15 

Custody  proper  for  the  Sacred  Documents, 16,  * 618 

Cyprian,  Bishop,  on  the  Lord's-day, 131,279 

D. 

Damascus,  and  Paul's  escape  from  Aretas, 559 

Dana,  Professor  James  D.,  on  Science  and  the  Book  of  God,  .    .   .         503 

Dates  comparative  of  critics'  opinions, 690,  691 

Davies,  G.  S.,  on  the  numerous  statues  to  the  gods  at  Athens,  .   .  568,  569 
Didache,  or  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 119 

On  Christian  Baptism 127, 128 

Diocletian,  Emperor,  on  persecutions  of  the  Christians,  .    .    .  366,  367,372 

Burial  of  dead  bodies  of  criminals, .    .    .398,399 

Diognetus,  on  the  Epistle  to, 346 

On  Christian  persecutions, 367 

Dion  Cassius  see  Cassius). 

Dionysius  Exiguus  (see  Exiguus), 76,77,594 

Divergent  testimonies,  Canon  of, 15 

Domitian,  the  Emperor,  arrogates  to  himself  the  title  Lord,  .    .   .         452 

Drusilla,  a  Herodian  princess,  wife  of  Felix, 496,497,500 

Dryden,  lines  on  Christian  persecutions, 382 

DuBoise,  Raymond,  on  bridging  the  living,  and  not-living,     .   .   .         199 

E. 

Ebrard,  on  how  seeming  discrepancies  arise, *258 

Eckhel,  on  exchange  of  Damascus  and  Petra, 560 

Eclipse  of  the  moon  at  Herod's  death, 76 


706  Index. 

Page. 

Edersheim,  epitome  of, 66 

On  the  Advent  of  the  Messiah, 67 

Christ's  life  began  and  ended  with  a  miracle, 237 

On  the  Nativity  and  the  Chinese  astronomical  tables 75 

On  the  method  of  Jewish  enrollments, 79 

't,\\r]v  and  'EXXtjkio-tiJs  in  distinction  in  the  New  Testament,   .   .    .       *508 

Emperors,  Koman, 413,  416-425 

Their  function  and  power, 417,  and  t 

Some  assumed  the  title  of  the  Deity, 419,  420 

Several  characterized  by  Gibbon, 365 

Encke,  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 75,  88 

Enrollments  made  by  Quirinius, 77-89, 400 

Luke's  statement  thereon, 77 

Two  different  enrollments  effected, 80 

Both  are  mentioned  by  the  Evangelist, 81 

Cassidorus  and  Suidas  on  enrollments, 82 

Silence  of  Josephus,  as  evidence, 82,83 

Testimony  of  Julian  (Emperor), 84 

Testimony  of  Justin,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  TertuUian,  85 

Monumental  evidence  of, 86,  87 

Epictetus,  epitome  of, 347 

His  opinion  of  the  Christians, 349 

Ephesus,  city  in  Asia  Minor, 561,562 

Visited  by  Paul, 561 

Era,  Christian,  reckoned  by  Dionysius  Exiguus, 76,77,594 

Escape  of  the  Christians  from  tlie  siege  of  Jerusalem, 528-530 

Josephus  on   this  escape, 528,529,530 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  on  this  event, 528, 529 

Eusebius  on  its  occurrence, 529 

Epiphanius,  makes  mention  of  it, 529,  530 

Eusebius,  the  first  Christian  historian,  epitome  of, 93 

On  the  Holy  Quaternion  of  the  Gospels, 95 

On  John  the  Baptist, 95-111 

On  James  the  Just,  the  Lord's  brother, 315 

On  the  Lord's  day, 131 

Time  in  Christ's  life  covered  by  John's  Gospel, 96,  97 

The  Lord's  brother  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 324 

After  Paul's  appeal,  Jews  turned  upon  James  the  Just  in 

persecution, 324,325 

Pilate  reported  Christ's  resurrection  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius,      *  426 
Tiberius  proposed  to  the  Senate  Christ  to  be  a  deity  of  the 

empire, 622 

Great  famine  prevailed  over  the  world, 523 

Apostles' exodus  from  the  siege,  Jerusalem, 528,529 

Christ  predicts  Jerusalem's  destruction, 519 

Evidences,  documentary  and  monumental, 4,  5 


Index.  707 

Pawb. 
Historical  evidences,  characteristics  of 13, 14 

Evidential  value  of  the  Gospels, 409-411 

Criteria  of  testimonies 15 

Value  of  added  witnesses, 14, 15 

Custody  of  ancient  documents, 16 

Mere  opinions  not  historical  evidence 53 

Ewald,  epitome  of, 236 

On  the  Apostles  and  Christ's  resurrection, 237,283,291 

Exchange  of  territory  between  Emperor  and  Senate,   .   .  416, 417,  455, 560 

Excursus,  A-G, 663,  665-694 

A.  Josephus's  testimony  of  Jesus, 665-671 

B.  Pliny's  State  paper  to  Trajan 671,672 

C  Logia  of  our  Lord  (Christ's  sayings), 673,674 

D.  Didach^,  or  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 674,675 

E.  The  Muratorian  Canon, 675,676 

F.  Expurgated  Talmud  of  the  Jews, 676-678 

G.  Toledoth  Jeshu  (History  of  Jesus), 678-687 

Exhibits,  A-E, 663,  687-694 

A.  Chronology  of  Books  of  the  New  Testament, 687-889 

B.  High  Priests  and  Procurators, 689,  690 

C.  Critics'  Chronology  of  Witnesses  and  Ancient  Documents,  690, 691 

D.  Contemporary  Witnesses, 692 

E.  Universal  Chi'onological  table, 693,694 

Exiguus,  Dionysius,  on  the  Christian  Era, 76,  77, 594 

F. 

Family  of  David,  Messianic  fulfillment 25,26 

Famine,  great,  predicted  by  Agabus, 420-422 

Farrar,  on  the  passion  of  Jesus  Christ, 217 

Machserus,  the  Baptist's  prison, 103 

On  scourging  of  Paul,  a  Roman  citizen, 447 

The  character  of  procurator  Felix, 497 

The  kingship  of  the  Tetrarch  Antipas, *479 

The  coin  of  the  line  of  Aretas, 561 

Felix,  procurator  of  Judaea, 436,437 

His  character  by  Tacitus, *  437,  438,  497,498 

As  given  according  to  Josephus, 438, 439 

According  to  Thomas  Lewin, 438 

According  to  Farrar, 497 

Evidence  of  procuratorship  from  coins, 438 

His  marriage  with  Drusilla, 496, 497 

Paul's  address  to  Felix  justified, 438,439 

Felix  arrested  and  sent  to  Rome, 450 

Festus,  succeeds  Felix  as  procurator  of  Judaea, 450 

Josephus  on  the  succession 450 

The  character  of  Festus, 449, 450 


708  Index. 

Page, 

Hisuseof  the  title  "my  Lord," 450,451 

Fisher,  Professor  George  P.,  epitome  of, 143,144 

On  the  advancement  and  power  of  the  Christian  Religion,  .   .         557 

Christ  and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 545,546 

First  day  of  the  week  (see  Lord's-day), 130 

Fortitude  of  the  Christians  persecuted, 558,559 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  on  Paine's  ^gre  o/'i?eason, 635 

Frey,  Rabbi,  traditional  Address  of  Magi  to  Herod, 71 

Disposition  of  Christ's  body  after  death 227 

Fronto  on  the  expression  "  My  Lord," 452 

G. 

Galen,  epitome  of, 348 

His  opinion  of  Christian  firmness, 351 

Gallio,  proconsul  of  Achai'a, 452 

Refuses  charge  against  Paul, 452,454,457 

Garments  of  executed  criminals, 399 

Genealogy  of  the  Herodian  family, 500 

Geography,  Historical,  of  the  New  Testament, 557,558,559 

Paul  at  Damascus, 559 

Paul  at  Ephesus, 561 

Paul  at  Philippi, 562 

Paul  at  Thessalonica, 565 

Paul  at  Athens, 567 

Paul  at  Melita  (Malta), 576-580 

Paul  atPuteoli  (Puzzuoli), 580,581 

Paul  at  Rome, 581-584 

Gibbon,Edward,  the  historian,  epitome  of, 213,214 

On  preternatural  darkness  at  Christ's  death, 226 

Confirms  Tacitus  and  Suetonius  on  the  persecutions  of  the 

Christians, 229,362,363 

Justifies  early  Christians  against  their  persecutors,  .   .   .  370,  376, 377 
Criticised  by  Thomas  Arnold,  and  by  Lecky  as  destitute  of  all 

sympathy  for  the  persecuted, 377,378 

On  the  inalienable  rights  of  conscience, 353 

Christians  rejected  the  gods  of  Rome, 348 

Holy  places  polluted  by  monuments  of  idolatry, 540 

Gibbon's  characterization  of  some  early  Emperors 365 

Given,  Professor  J.  J.,  comparison  of  sacred  and  classic  books  for 

authenticity,  and  citations 629,631 

Lord  Hales   on   citations  of  early  Fathers  from  the  New 

Testament 629, 630 

Golden  Age, 23-26,  32 

Gospels,  the  special  objects  of  Evangelists,  in  writing  them,  .   .   .      50-52 
Government,  remarkable  changes  in  the  first  fifty  years  of  our 

era, 406^08 


Index.  709 

Page. 

Goethe,  epitome  of 587,588 

His  emphasis  upon  the  Gospels  of  Christ, 589 

Graetz,  Heinrich,  a  Jewish  historian, 225 

His  testimony  on  Christ's  miracles,     151 

Apostles  went  forth  executing  miracles, 332 

Jews  tempt  Judas  to  betray  Jesus 225 

On  the  exact  time  of  the  Crucifixion, 225 

The  inscription  on  the  cross, 225 

Christ's  outcry  to  the  Father 225 

On  the  place  of  Christ's  burial, 225 

The  terrible  results  following  to  the  Jews 225 

Confesses  the  founding  of  Christianity 225 

Granianus,  Serenius,  his  protest  against  Christian  persecution,  .         366 

Rescript  of  Hadrian  on  persecution, 366 

Grant,  TJ.  S.,  on  the  Bible 635 

Greek  and  Grecians  distinguished  in  the  New  Testament,  ....       *508 

Greenleaf  on  the  custody  of  ancient  documents, 16,*  618 

Griesbach,  on  prolusion, 257,258 

Grove,  W.  R.,  on  causation  and  creation, 200 

Guizot,  Professor,  on  the  Bible  and  its  triumphs, 557 

H. 

Hackel,  Professor,  on  the  origin  of  life, 199 

On  the  existence  of  Moneron,     198 

Haddarshan,  Rabbi  Moses,  on  the  Resurrection  of  the  Messiah,  .         269 

Hadrian,  Emperor,  his  rescript  on  the  persecutions, 386 

Hakkodesh,  Rabbi  Judah,  on  the  Resurrection  of  the  Messiah,    .         269 
Hales,  Lord,  on  citations  from  the  New  Testament,  on  early 

Fathers, 629, 630 

Hamann,  John  G.,  epitome  of, 163 

A  miracle  required  to  believe  a  mii*acle, 164 

Hausrath,  characterization  of  Herod  Antipas, 477 

Hegesippus,the  historian,  on  the  Lord's  brother,  James  the  Just,  323-325 

Herod  the  Great,  king, 462-472 

Born  of  Idumsean  stock, 463 

How  he  became  procurator, 463, 464 

How  he  acquired  royalty 464 

His  character  as  a  ruler, 462-464,76 

His  conduct  in  his  own  family, 466,467 

His  disposition  toward  Christ, 467,468 

His  treachery  to  the  royalty  of  the  Maccabees, 70 

Herodian  rulers  of  the  second  generation, 472-481 

Herod  Archelaus  (see  Archelaus), 472-477 

Herod  Philip  II  (Herod  Philip),      475-477 

Herod  Antipas  (see  Antipas), 477-481 

Herodias,  a  princess  of  the  house, 494,495 


710  Index. 

Page. 

Eloped  and  married  Antipas, 100,  480,  494,  495 

Her  dealings  with  John  the  Baptist 480,  495 

Herschel,  on  all  discoveries  confirming  Scriptures, 503 

Hesychius,  Bishop  of  Egypt,  on  accusations  written  on  tablets,  .         398 

Hierocles,  epitome  of, 141 

On  Christ  as  a  magician, 144 

Concedes  that  he  wrought  miracles, 144, 601 

Affirms  that  Christ  ascended  to  heaven, 303 

Christians  called  Jesus  God, 374 

His  persecution  of  the  Christians, 655 

Attests  Peter  and  Paul  as  Apostles, 601 

Histories,  Sacred  and  Secular,  compared, 628,629,632 

Hodge,  Dr.  Charles,  on  miracles, 145 

Huldrich,  his  edition  of  the  Toledoth  Jeshu 678-687 

On  Jesus  learning  magic  in  Egypt, 680, 681 

A  marriage  of  Mary  and  Joseph  Pandira, 679 

On  the  beheading  of  the  Baptist, 682 

Hume,  David,  epitome  of, 142 

On  not  having  read  the  New  Testament, 635 

His  position  about  miracles  of  Scripture, 146, 186 

Hume's  position  refuted  by  Huxley, 146,  147 

Miracles  contrary  to  experience, 202 

His  prediction  that  Christianity  will  fade  away  in  1900,   ...         657 

Huxley,  Thomas  H.,  epitome  of, 142,143 

Kefutes  Hume  on  miracles, 146, 147 

On  the  absurdity  of  atheism, 185 

Is  refuted  on  Bathybius,  and  spontaneous  generation,     .   .   .  197-199 
On  evolution  and  the  living  and  not-living, 199-200 

I. 

Ideler,  astronomer,  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 75 

Ignatius,  epitome  of, 46,  47 

On  the  tribe  and  incarnation  of  Jesus, 58 

Christ's  passion,  death  and  resurrection, 230,270 

On  the  Lord's-day  as  the  Sabbath 132,278 

On  the  Eucharist,  or  Lord's  Supper, 128 

Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ, 60-62 

Institutions  of  Christianity, 127-134 

On  the  institution  of  Baptism, 127, 128 

On  the  Lord's  Supper, 128 

On  the  Lord's-day, 130-134 

Constantine's  edict  on  the  Lord's-day, 131 

Eusebius  verifies  the  same, 131 

Confirmations  by  Peter  and  Cyprian, 131 

Testimonies  by  Irenaeus,  Bardesenes,  Justin,  Ignatius,  on  the 
Lord's-day, 131,132 


Index.  711 

Page. 
Testimony  of  John,  Bai-nabas,  the  Didache,  and  Paul,  on  the 
Lord's-day, 133 

Introduction  of  this  book, ix-xvii 

Plan  of  the  work, ix 

The  proposition, ix 

Function  of  witnesses, ix-xii 

Adverse  witnesses  classified xii 

Advocates  classified, xiii 

Characteristics  of  Historical  Evidence, xiii,  xiv 

Value  of  added  witnesses, xiv,  xv 

Criteria  of  testimonies, xv,  xvi 

Canon  of  divergent  testimony, xv 

Starkie  on  conflicting  testimony xv 

Lewis  on  original  witnesses, xv 

Greenleaf  on  custody  of  documents, xvi 

Prospectus  of  the  work, xvi,xvii 

Irenaeus,  epitome  of, 66 

On  the  Lord's  Supper  (Eucharist), 128 

On  the  Lord's-day  (Sabbath), 182,278 

On  Christ's  ascension, 304 

Written  Gospels  the  soui-ce  of  Christianity, 618-620 

Adoration  and  gifts  of  the  Magi, 73 

On  the  Star  of  Bethlehem, 73 

On  Christ's  resurrection, 278 

Christian  miracles  wi-ought  in  Christ's  name,     158, 159 

J. 

James,  the  Just  (the  Lord's  brother), 315,  321-327,  254,  255 

Josephus's  reference  to  James, 666,  667 

Discriminated  from  others  of  that  name, 321 

His  place  in  Joseph's  family, 322 

His  pre-eminence  among  the  Jews, 323 

Not  mentioned  in  the  four  lists  of   the  Apostles, 322 

How  afterward  he  became  an  Apostle, 254,  255,  322 

Became  pre-eminent  among  Christians, 322,  328,  255 

How  he  became  first  Bishop  of  the  Church, 255, 324 

How  he  was  martyi-ed  by  the  Jews, 324-327 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  on  Christ's  system  of  morality, 348 

Jerome,  epitome  of, 217 

On  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  at  Christ's  crucifixion, 230,231 

Jerusalem,  destruction  of 519-554 

Jesus  Christ,  anticipated  as  the  Messiah  of  prophecy 21,  23-39 

On  the  Nativity  of  Christ, 41-62 

On  concurrent  circumstances, 63-89 

The  Christ  of  History, 113,  115-125 

His  unique  ministry, •   •    ■    •  120-123 


712  Index. 

Page. 

Was  the  Founder  of  Christianity, 123-125, 134-137 

Proof  of  miracles  which  Christ  wrought, 139,  141-160 

A  definition  of  a  miracle, 145, 146,  189 

Christ's  miracles  witnessed  by  his  disciples, 147 

Never  denied  for  centuries, 148 

Attested  by  Jewish  authorities, 149-151 

Conceded  by  Roman  philosophers, 151-155 

Heathen  explanations  of  Christ's  miracles, 156 

Testimony  of  Christian  writers, 158, 159 

Miracles  true  and  false, 152-154 

The  Christianity  of  Christ, 184-137 

(For  Christ's  passion,  death,  and  burial,  see 213-232 

For  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from  the  dead,  see 233-293 

For  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven,  see 295-311 

For  characteristics  and  value  of  his  miracles,  see  ....  161,  163-179 
For  modern  objections  to  miracles,  see 181,183-210.) 

Jewish  Literature  of  the  Messiah, 26-31 

The  Talmud  on  Messiah's  birth, 26,  27 

On  the  incarnation  of  Messiah, 27,28 

Chaldaic  Targums  on  Messiah, 28,  29 

Jewish  people  and  their  Messiah, 29-31 

Persecutions  of  the  Christians, 343,  359-361 

Implacable  hate  for  Christ's  people, 360 

Prayers  for  curses  on  the  Gentiles, 360,  361 

Jewish  Nation,  in  times  of  the  New  Testament, 501,  503-554 

Jews'  condition  in  the  period  of  Christ,- 504 

Sanhedrin,  how  organized, 505,506 

Its  functions  and  place  of  sitting, 506 

Rise  of  sectional  differences  and  services 507-509 

"  The  Dispersed  "  put  to  disadvantage, 509-512 

On  different  sects  among  the  Jews, 512,513 

Spirit  of  insubordination  and  conspiracy, 515-518 

Destruction  of  the  Jewish  nationality, 518-554 

Christ's  predictions  and  their  fulfillment, 518-546 

The  beginning  of  sorrows, 523 

The  signs  of  warning, 626 

To  be  accomplished  in  that  generation, 530 

Cessation  of  sacrifices  forever, 534,  535 

The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  burned  to  ashes, 535 

The  predicted  conquest  completed, 538,543 

The  captives  and  their  treatment, 541,542 

Why  visited  on  that  generation, 543,  544 

Christ  and  this  terrible  situation, 545,546 

The  Roman  conquest  and  triumph, 546,  547 

The  Arch  of  Vespasian  and  Titus  at  Rome 547,  548 


Index,  713 

Pane. 
The  prediction,  realization,  and  advantages  to  the  Christian 

world 549-554 

John,  the  Lord's  Apostle 52,  133,  616-619 

His  release  from  Patmos, 133  note 

How  John's  Gospel  originated, 616,617,619 

Confirmed  by  Clement  of  Alexandria, 617 

Its  authorship  identified  by  Irenseus, 616 

Attested  by  other  Apostles,  present, 616 

Special  object  in  writing  his  Gospel, 52,617 

John's  witness  to  Christ's  resurrection  and  ascension,  ....         306 

His  testimony  on  the  Lord's  own  day, 133 

Ii-enseus  on  the  death  of  John, 619 

John,  the  Baptist  (see  under  Baptist,  John), 91,93-111 

Joseph's  family  and  Egypt, 67, 68 

Josephus,  epitome  of, 387,  388 

On  the  expected  Messiah, 34,  38,  39 

His  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ, 613,  665-671 

On  the  success  of  his  ministry, 318,665 

On  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus, ...  315,  324,  325 

Character  of  John  the  Baptist, 97 

His  imprisonment  and  death, 100-103 

Occasion  of  John's  execution, 101 

Confirms  Luke  on  Theudas  and  Judas, 83, 84 

On  Herod's  sons  and  their  territories, 99,  100,  406-408 

Marriage  of  Antipas  and  Herodias, 100 

Aretas's  quarrel  with  Antipas, 100 

Florus  on  scourging  and  crucifying  Jews, 396,  397 

The  great  famine  in  Judaea, 420-422 

Coponius  appointed  procurator, 473 

Jews  lived  under  their  own  laws, 395 

Idumeeans  and  the  unburied  dead, 399 

Caligula  claims  to  be  a  deity, 419,451 

Orders  his  statue  in  Jews'  Temple, 419,  420 

Is  dissuaded  by  Agrippa  I, 420,  483,  484 

Claudius  controlled  by  his  freedmen, 420 

Gratus  and  Pilate  made  procurators, 428,  429 

Pilate  transfers  his  army  to  Jerusalem, 429 

Pilate's  cruelty  and  vacillation, 432,433 

The  traveling  tribunal  of  Philip  II, 430 

Pilate  appropriates  the  sacred  Corban, 434 

He  orders  the  slaughter  of  the  Jews, 434 

He  also  massacres  many  of  the  Samaritans, 434 

Felix  appointed  as  procurator, 438 

Felix  and  an  Egyptian  impostor, 439,440 

Festus  succeeds  Felix  as  procurator, 450 


714  Index. 

Page. 

Herod's  father  once  procurator 463,  464 

The  Herods  were  of  Idumaean  stock, 463 

The  time  of  Herod's  procuratorship, 463 

Governed  conjointly  with  his  brother, 464 

Herod  usurped  the  power  of  death 506 

Parthians  invade  Herod's  territory, 464 

Herod  flees  to  Rome  for  help, 464 

Caesar  crowns  Herod  king  of  Palestine, 464 

He  restores  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem, 465 

Rebuilds  the  Temple  of  the  Samaritans, 466 

Builds  a  monument  over  royal  tombs, 466 

Herod  the  Great  married  nine  wives, 467 

He  executes  his  favoi'ite  wife,  Mariamne, 467 

And  her  grandfather  Hyrcanus 467 

He  also  slays  three  of  his  own  sons, 467 

Proposes  to  massacre  his  own  nobles, 467 

Augustus  is  angry  with  Herod  the  Great, 466 

Had  allowed  him  to  appoint  his  sons  his  successors, 470 

Simon  usurped  his  kingship  at  Herod's  death, 471,475 

Josephus  designates  Antipas  a  tetrarch, 470,  476 

How  Herod  Archelaus  became  ethnarch, 471 

The  localities  in  Philip's  tetrarchy, 471 

The  localities  in  Antipas's  tetrarchy, 471 

Archelaus  mentioned  as  eldest  brother, 472 

Augustus  denied  him  a  kingdom, 472,  475 

But  he  usurped  kingly  prerogatives, 472 

Archelaus  slew  thousands  of  subjects, 473 

Soon  he  was  deposed  and  banished, 473 

His  ethnarchy  became  a  Roman  province, 473 

Coponius  was  made  procurator  over  Judaea 394,  473 

Power  over  life  and  death  given  Coponius, 473 

Quirinius  registers  the  Jews'  property, 473 

Quadratus  sends  Ananus  to  Rome  in  chains, 576 

Julius  made  Antipater  a  citizen  of  Rome, 445 

Jews  refuse  to  call  any  man  Lord, 451 

Jews  discourage  learning  foreign  languages, 509 

The  dispersion  of  Jews  in  all  lands, 511 

Antipas  builds  the  city  of  Tiberias, 474 

The  parentage  of  Herod  Philip  H, 475 

Salome  was  his  wife  and  niece 475 

Philip  builds  Csesarea-Philippi  for  his  capital, 476 

The  death  and  burial  of  Philip  II, 476 

Antipas,  the  youngest  of  three  brothers, 477 

Is  appointed  tetrarch  over  Galilee  and  Pereea, 477 

The  character  of  Herod  Antipas, 477 

Proves  disloyal  to  Emperor  Caligula, 477 


Index.  715 

Pa«b. 

Is  deposed  and  perpetually  exiled, 477,478 

Had  eloped  and  married  his  brother's  wife, 480 

Antipas's  behavior  with  Jesus, 480,  481 

Parentage  and  marriage  of  Agrippa  I, 481 

He  is  styled  Agrippa  the  Great, 481, 482 

He  was  a  zealous  Jew  educated  at  Rome, 482 

In  youth  was  intimate  with  Caligula, 482 

Was  magnetic  and  fond  of  popularity, 482 

He  reflected  on  Tiberius  and  was  put  in  irons, 482,  582 

Tiberius  dies  and  Caligula  succeeds  him, 482 

Caligula  appoints  Agrippa  to  royalty, 482 

Substitutes  a  gold  chain  for  the  iron  one, 483 

Claudius  succeeds  Caligula,  as  emperor, 485 

Makes  Agrippa's  kingdom  identical  with  that  of  Herod  the 

Great,  his  grandfather, 485 

Agi'ippa  I  is  twice  humiliated  by  Vibius,  president  of  Syria,  486 

King  Agrippa  celebrates  games  at  Cfesarea, 487 

Is  arrayed  in  gorgeous  apparel  in  the  theater, 487 

People  shout  that  Agrippa  is  a  god, 488 

Nor  does  he  rebuke  the  impious  flattery, 488 

Agrippa  I  dies  after  five  days, 489 

His  son  was  now  but  a  youth  at  Rome, 490 

Claudius  makes  him  king  of  Chalcis, 491 

Fadus  made  procurator  over  the  kingdom  of  Agrippa  I,  .    .    .  490 

Soon  Agrippa  II  is  removed  to  a  greater  kingdom, 491 

He  has  authority  over  the  Temple,  its  treasury,  and  the  High 

Priests 491 

He  enlarges  Csesarea-Philippi  in  honor  of  Nero, 491 

Is  regarded  as  cold-blooded  and  arbitrary, 491 

Makes  several  visits  of  courtesy, 492,493,496 

Respecting  Bernice,  this  Agrippa's  sister, 495,496 

Respecting  Drusilla,  sister  of  Agrippa  II, 496,497 

Origin  of  the  sect  called  Sadducees, 512 

On  the  sect  of  Jews  called  Pharisees, 513 

On  enmity  between  Jews  and  Samaritans, 514 

Samaritans  excluded  from  the  Temple, 515 

The  two  impostors,  Theudas  and  Judas, 516 

A  conspiracy  to  kill  Herod  the  Great, 517 

Josephus  arraigns  some  Jews  as  criminals, 618 

Procurators  deal  with  impostors  and  robbers 520,521 

On  earthquakes  and  pestilence,  ...       524 

Greeks  and  Syrians  slay  many  Jews, 525 

Many  instances  of  thousands  of  Jews  slain, 525, 526 

Cumanus  deposed  and  banished, 525 

Roman  soldier  insults  Jews  at  Passover, 526 

Pilate  and  Roman  eagles  in  Jerusalem, 527 


716  Index. 

Paoe. 

Herod's  golden  eagle  and  the  Temple, 527 

Vitellius  marched  around  the  Jews' land, 527 

Cestius  withdraws  army  from  his  siege  of  Jerusalem 528 

Many  inhabitants  now  escape  the  siege, 529, 530 

Titus  raises  banks  against  Jerusalem, 532 

The  Roman  army  constructs  walls, 532 

The  calamities  of  famine  and  deaths, 532, 533 

Dead  bodies  thrown  down  before  the  walls, 533 

Date  when  the  Jewish-Roman  war  began, 534 

When  sacrificing  at  the  Temple  ceased  forever, 534 

Titus  resolves  to  storm  the  Temple, 535 

Battering-rams  fail  at  certain  points, 535 

The  Temple  burned  to  its  foundation, 535 

Massive  walls  were  leveled, 538,539 

The  city  reduced  to  shapeless  ruins, 536,540 

Romans  bring  in  "  the  abomination  of  desolation," 537 

They  sacrificed  to  their  gods  in  the  Temple  courts, 537 

Titus  attributes  the  conquest  to  God, 537,  538 

The  former  city  contrasted  with  its  ruins, 536, 540 

Captives,  their  wives  and  children  sold  to  be  slaves, 542 

Estimates  of  numbers  lost  in  this  war, 541-543 

Vitellius  held  a  grudge  against  Antipas 559 

Damascenes  and  the  bribery  of  Agrippa  I, 560 

Moses  offering  prayers  in  open  air, 563 

Alexander  meeting  the  High  Priest 571, 572 

Syrian's  appreciation  of  Csesarean  soldiers, 574 

Varus  sends  a  captain  to  the  Emperor, 576 

Felix  sent  noted  robbers  to  Caesar, 576 

Vitellius  sent  Pilate  also  to  Rome, 576 

Josephus  ship-wrecked,  reached  Puteoli 581 

Both  Antipas  and  Fortunatu  sailed  to  Puteoli, 581 

Julian,  Emperor,  epitome  of, 43,  44 

Affirms  Jesus  was  a  subject  of  Csesar, 54 

That  he  was  enrolled  by  Quirinius 54 

That  Christ's  relatives  did  not  believe  on  Jesus, 54 

That  Christ  had  been  celebrated  300  years, 54 

That  Christians  claimed  Jesus  was  begotten  by  the  Holy 

Ghost 54 

That  the  genealogy  derives  him  from  Judah, 54 

That  Matthew  and  Luke  differ  in  genealogy, 54 

That  Christians  believed  Jesus  born  of  a  Virgin, 55 

They  continually  call  Mary,  mother  of  God, 55 

On  the  birth  and  incarnation  of  Jesus, 596,  597 

On  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 597-599 

On  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ, 155,  599,  600 

Names  the  authors  of  the  four  Gospels, 597 


Index.  717 

Page. 

Mentions  also  Peter  and  Paul, 597 

Also  citations  from  Matthew  and  Luke, 598 

Cites  from  Pauline  Epistles, 598,  599 

His  disparagement  of  early  Christians, 596 

His  opinion  of  the  Christian  religion, 351,354 

His  ridicule  of  Christian  Baptism, 127 

He  persecutes  Christians  for  their  religion, 354,357 

On  the  Apostles'  success  in  preaching, 319 

Admits  the  conversion  of  Corneli".s,  and  of  Sergius  Paulus,  .         319 

Julius,  the  Centurion,  Paul  placed  in  his  charge  to  sail,    ....         573 
The  cohort  of  soldiers  under  him, 573,  574 

Justin  Martyr,  theApologist,  an  epitome  of, 65, 66 

On  the  Magi,  or  Wise  Men  of  the  East, 74 

The  enrollment  of  Quirinius, 85 

Prophecy  of  John  until  Jesus  came, 108 

The  Christians  were  called  Atheists, 353 

The  place  of  Jesus  in  the  Trinity, 353 

The  practice  of  the  Lord's  Supper 128 

The  practice  on  the  Lord's-day, 132 

The  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ, 305 

The  Jews'  persecution  of  Christians, 367 

Pilate's  official  repoi't  of  Christ's  resuiTection,  to  the  Emperor,     *426 
His  reproof  of  Jews  for  sending  abroad  false  reports  about 

Christ  and  Christianity, *243 

On  Jews  cursing  the  Christians  in  their  synagogues 367 

Juvenal,  the  Roman  poet,  an  epitome  of, 345 

On  punishments  inflicted  on  criminals, 376 

The  Jews'  place  of  worship  at  Rome, 563 

K. 

Kant,  creation  inexplicable  by  matter  alone, 200 

Keim,  Dr.  Theodore,  epitome  of, 236,237 

On  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 271, 272 

Denial,  not  due  to  scientific  or  religious  conscience, 328,  329 

Keim's  criticism  of  "the  vision  theory  of  Christ's  resurrection,  290,291 
The  exalted  and  reticent  originality  of  Christ's  sayings,  .   .   .         589 

Paul  on  the  resurrection, 271,  272,  290,  291 

Kepler,  his  astronomical  argument  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity,  .  75 

Koslin,  on  a  faith  without  signs  and  wonders, 178 

L. 

Lactantius,  epitome  of, 216,  217 

On  absurdity  of  forcing  conscience, 348 

Lange,  on  Herod  and  the  Messianic  Prophet, 70 

Lardner,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  an  eminent  critic,  epitome  of 49,5 

On  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,    .   .   .  628 
46 


718  Index. 

Page, 

Lecky,  on  Christ  as  an  ideal  character, 120 

Critics'  unexamining  incredulity, 185 

Christ,  the  enduring  principle  of  regeneration, 124 

Gibbon's  want  of  sympathy  with  martyrs, 377,  378 

Legate,  Quirinius,  his  functions  of  office, 425 

Lewin,  Thomas,  on  the  coins  of  Aretas, 560 

The  Jews  proseuchse, 564 

Magistrates  on  monuments,  not  in  books, 566 

Death  for  disturbing  religion  of  the  State, 568* 

Felix  and  Festus  procurators  of  Judoea, 438 

The  Neokoros  of  Thessalonica,  the  authoritative  Speaker  of 

Senate  and  Assembly, 562 

Paul  at  the  Philippian  proseucha, 564 

On  Alexander,  and  the  Book  of  Daniel, 572 

Intimacy  of  Jews  and  Greeks, 572,573 

On  the  Primate  of  the  Maltese, 578 

On  viper,  and  bundles  of  wood  at  Malta, 579 

Lewis,  Sir  George  C,  on  credibility  of  original  witnesses 15,461 

Liebig,  the  eminent  scientist,  epitome  of, 183 

Denies  life  existing  from  eternity, 200 

Life,  its  origin  unaccountable  says  Hackel, 199 

DuBoise,  on  the  living,  and  the  not-living, 199 

Huxley,  on  evolution  and  origin  of  life, 199 

Thomson  that  life  proceeds  from  life 200 

Kant,  matter  alone  can  not  explain  life, 200 

Tyndall,  life  only  from  antecedent  life, 200 

Liebig,  once  organic  life  did  not  exist, 200 

Schenkel,  harmony  not  annihilated  by  a  creative  God,  .   .   .   .         200 

Grove,  creation  is  the  act  of  God, 200 

Christlieb,  life  on  earth  has  not  always  existed, 200 

Cuvier,  it  is  easy  to  indicate  when  life  on  earth  began,    .   .   .         200 

Lightfoot,  on  the  Rabbis,  and  the  Greek  language, 509 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  the  Bible  the  best  gift  of  God  to  man,  .   .   .   .         635 

Livy,  epitome  of, 389 

On  scourging  and  crucifixion, 396 

Locke,  John,  on  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ, 164 

Logia,  or  the  sayings  of  Jesus  Christ, 673,  674 

Longfellow,  lines  on  the  word  of  the  Lord, 635 

Lord's-day,  by  whom  instituted, 130-134,  278,  279 

Lucan,  on  the  Unknown  God, 570,571 

Lucian,  epitome  of, 115,  604,  605 

On  Christ's  introduction  of  Christianity, 123 

Christians'  worship  of  Christ, 605 

Their  disregard  for  temporal  things, 605 

Their  belief  in  their  own  immortality, 361,605 

Their  tender  offices  for  each  other, 355, 605 


Index.  719 

Page. 

Lucian's  disrespectful  reference  to  Paul, 605 

On  freedom  given  to  the  city  Tarsus, 444 

Summary  of  Lucian's  testimony, 606 

Luke's  special  object  in  writing  a  Gospel, 51 

Christ's  followers  first  called  Christians, 315 

Luther,  Martin,  on  the  Council  of  Trent, 658 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  epitome  of, 183 

On  atavism  among  descendants, 190, 191 

Lyndhurst,  Lord,  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 239 

M. 

Machserus,  prison  of  John  the  Baptist, 102, 103 

Maclear,  on  indirect  liistorical  allusions  in  the  New  Testament,  .         389 

Changes  in  government  first  fifty  years, 461 

Archaeological  discoveries  and  sacred  history, 415 

Macrobius,  Augustus's  sarcasm  on  Herod  the  Great, 69 

Magi,  or  Wise  Men,  and  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 71,72 

Malta  (island  Melita),  and  the  ship-wreck  of  the  Apostle  Paul,    .  576-580 

Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament, 636-646 

On  many  books  in  one, 636 

The  ancient  art  of  book-making, 637 

The  ancient  penmen  employed, 638 

The  materials  used  for  wi'iting, 637,638 

The  Uncial  manuscripts,  characteristics, 639 

The  Cursive  manuscripts,  characteristics, 640 

Origin  and  distribution  of  Uncials, 638,639 

Number  and  distribution  of  Cursives, 640, 641 

Supplementary  manuscripts, 642 

Palimpsest  manuscripts, 640 

Alexandrian  manuscript, 641,642 

Sinaitic  manuscript, 643,644 

Vatican  manuscript, 642,643 

Occasion  of  errors  in  transcriptions, 645 

Detection  of  impostures, 646 

Mara,  an  Arabic  writer,  on  Christianity  based  on  miracles  and 

parables, 159 

The  Jews  and  the  crucified  Christ, 224, 225 

Purity  in  life  of  early  Christians, 355 

Mark's  Gospel,  its  origin  and  characteristics, 52 

Martensen,  on  the  ascension  of  Christ 298 

Martial,  epitome  of, 345 

Desci'ibes  the  sufferings  of  Christ, 376 

Matthew's  Gospel,  special  object  and  peculiarities  of, 50,51 

Maxwell,  Chief  Justice,  on  reading  the  Bible, 635 

Melito,  epitome  of, 297 

Incarnation,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Christ,  .   .         305 


720  Index. 

Pagk. 

Memorabilia,  Christ's  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 

nation, 545,546 

Messiah  of  Scripture, 31-39 

Anticipations  of, 19,  21-89 

Realization  of, 41,  43-62 

Accompaniments  of  his  advent, 63,  65-89 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  epitome  of, 119 

On  historicity  of  Christ, 120 

Proof  of  miracles  legitimate, 145 

Explains  the  phrase,  "  Laws  of  Nature," 188 

Which  can  not  account  for  their  own  origin, 199 

Miracles  of  the  New  Testament, 139,  141-210,  328-333 

Definition  of  the  word  "  miracle," 145,  189,  171, 172 

Anonymous  author's  idea  of  miracle, 164 

Miracles  as  explained  by  heathen  writers,  .  156,  330-332,  599,  603,  604 

Miracles  distinguished  from  Magical  Arts 166-169, 179 

On  miracles  true  or  fictitious, 152-154 

Reality  of  Christ's  miracles, 141-160 

Wrought  in  the  disciples'  presence, 147 

Adversaries  witness  to  his  miracles, 154, 155 

Christian  writers  also  attest, 158 

Apostles  wrought  miracles  in  Christ's  name 328-333 

They  were  manifold  in  number, 330 

Miracles  wrought  in  later  centuries, 332 

All  miracles  Christo-centric, 171-174 

Were  evidential  in  character  and  design, 178 

Were  epochal  in  history, 174-177 

Negation  of  miracles  historically, 186 

Miracles  not  denied  for  centuries, 148 

Modern  objections  to  miracles, 183-210 

Hume,  on  miracles  as  violation  of  natural  laws,  146, 186,  202, 203, 188 

Huxley's  refutation  of  Hume, 146, 147 

Nature,  and  our  knowledge  of  her  laws, 190 

Nature's  forces  modifiable  by  man, 193 

Natural  forces  antagonistic, 194, 195 

Miracles  a  higher  order  of  nature, 201 

Hume  on  miracles  contrary  to  experience, 202, 203 

Miracles  and  Deism,  Materialism,  and  Pantheism, 201 

Miracles  as  having  never  been  investigated, 204-207 

Characteristics  and  value  of  miracles, 163-179 

Evidence  of  miracles  reviewed, 332,333 

Missionary  journeys  of  Paul, 555-584 

Mistakes  of  Roman  writers  on  apostolic  times,    .    .  *  69 ,  391-393,  406,  *  498 

Monumental  evidences  of  the  New  Testament :  Schaff  on  the  value 

of  monumental  evidence, 3,  4 

Palestine  itself  a  perpetual  monument  of  history, 411 


Index.  721 

Paqk. 
An  inscription  on  Nero's  freeing  Portugal  of  robbers  and 

Christians, 364 

On  Quirinius's  enumeration  of  citizens  at  Venice, 86 

Another  of  Quirinius  as  legate  and  proconsul,  at  Tibur,  Tivoli,    86, 87 
Still  another  of  Quirinius   at  Rome,  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  .  87 

A  monument  at  Ancyi'a,  recording  three  eni-ollments,  ....  87 

An  inscription  in  Judaea,  mentioned  by  Tertullian, 87 

An  inscription  of  seven  Politarchs,  in  Thessalonica, 565,  566 

Two  inscriptions  in  Malta,  dedicated  to  the  "  Primate  of  the 

Maltese," 578 

Ai'ch  and  inscription  to  Vespasian,  and  Titus  at  Rome,   .  .    .  547,  548 
Ancient  coins  with  inscriptions:  Coin  of  Herod  the  Great, 

king, 500,  501 

Coin  of  Archelaus,  ethnarch, 66,471,472 

Coins  of  Philip  II,  tetrarch, 66,471,472,476,500,501 

Coin  of  Herod  Antipas,  tetrarch, 500,  501 

Coin  of  Agrippa  I,  king, 486,500,501 

Coin  of  Agi-ippa,  II,  king, 491,500,501 

Coin  of  Felix,  procurator  of  Judaea, 438 

Coin  of  Cominius  Proculus,  proconsul  of  Cyprus, 454 

Coin  of  Sergius  Paulus,  proconsul  of  Cyprus, 454 

Coin  of  Diana  of  the  Ephesiaus, 562 

Coin  of  Aretas  of  Damascus, 561 

Coin  of  Judaea  conquered, 547 

Monuments  in  other  different  forms:  The  existing  Church  of 

Christ, 273-275 

The  ordinance  of  Christian  Baptism, 109,  110,  127, 128 

The  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 128-130 

The  institution  of  the  Lord's-day, 130-134,  275-279 

A  Graffito  in  caricature  of  Christ  crucified, 374-376 

Word-tests  of  the  New  Testament 402-405 

Moses,   prediction   of  happiness  or  punishments  of   the  future 

Israel, 542,543 

Mozley,  creation  and  science  not  contradictory, 197 

Michselis,  on  origin  of  errors  in  sacred  books, 645 

McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopedia  on  Christian  persecutions,  .         378 

On  coins  of  Aretas, 560 

Milman,  on   the   accuracy  of  Christ's  prediction  of  the  Jews' 

sufferings, 519 

Romans  polluting  the  sacred  places, 540 

Empire  armed  to  defend  polytheism, 348 

Splendor  of  the  Roman  triumph, 546 

Milller,  on  formation  of  living  organisms  out  of  lifeless  matter,        200 
Muratorian  Canon,  a  description  of, 616,675 


722  Index. 

N. 

Pagb. 

Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ, 43-89 

Nero,  his  infamies  of  life,  and  suicidal  death, 417,423 

Nestorians,  on  Zoroaster  and  the  Magi, 72 

NewK6po?-,  explained, 561,*  562 

New  Testament  historicity  verified, 585,  587-632 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  on  the  Bible,  its  sure  authenticity, 503 

Nitzsch,  Karl  Immanuel,  epitome  of, 143 

To  deny  miracles  as  impossible,  is  to  deny  the  freedom  of  God,        144 

Norton,  Professor  Andrews,  epitome  of, 588 

Exactness  of  Justin  on  Christ's  life, 621 

Christendom  and  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,    ....         625 

O. 

Onkelos's  Targum,  on  the  anticipated  Messiah, 29 

Oosterzee,  J.  J.,  van,  epitome  of, 184 

On  denying  the  impossibility  of  miracles, 184 

On  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven, 298 

The  caprice  of  transferring  from  the  history  of  Jesus  to  the 

Apostles, 238 

No  one  has  the  right  to  deny  the  possibility  of  miracles,  .   .   .         197 

Opinions,  mere,  not  evidential, 37 

Those  held  respecting  miracles, 148 

Those  held  for  early  Christians  and  Christianity, 349-351 

Origen,  epitome  of, 45,  46 

On  the  Nativity  of  Christ, 73 

On  the  virginity  of  Mary,  his  mother, 271 

On  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 271 

John's  baptism  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 109 

On  Celsus  saying  Jesus  was  Leader  of  his  people, 122 

That  miracles  vpere   wrought  in  the  middle  of  the  third 

century, 158,  332 

On  Celsus  writing,  "  A  true  Discourse," 388 

Christ's  prediction  and  armies  at  Jerusalem, 325,  326 

On  the  success  of  the  Gospel  to  his  time, 335,336 

Transmission  of  the  four  Gospels, 614 

John's  three,  and  Peter's  two  Epistles, 614,  615 

On  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 615 

P. 

Palestine,  changes  of  government  first  fifty  years 385-394 

Two  civilizations  in  one  community, 394-405 

Two  systems  of  law  for  one  people, 395-402 

Changes  in  political  geography, 405-408 

Value  of  these  facts  in  the  Gospels, 409-411 

Paley,  on  his  Evidences  of  Christianity, 3 


Index.  723 

Pase. 

Papias,  epitome  of 587 

Testimony  on  the  four  Gospels 622 

Paul,  the  Apostle,  the  great  change  "wrought  in  his  life, 271,306 

On  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ, 58 

Testimony  on  his  death  and  resurrection, 271-273 

On  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven, 306 

On  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Lord's-day, 133 

Paul  as  a  Roman  citizen,  thrice  claimed, 441,446 

Why  he  did  not  claim  it  when  scourged, 446,447 

His  appeal  to  Csesar  at  Rome, 448,449 

His  journeys  to  the  Gentile  world, 555,  557-584 

The  Apostle  Paul  at  Damascus, 559-561 

Paul  at  Ephesus, 561,562 

Paul  at  Philippi, 562-565 

Paul  at  Thessalonica,      565-567 

Paul  at  Athens,     567-573 

Paul  at  Csesarea, 573,  574 

Paul  at  Melita  (Malta), 576-581 

Paul  at  Puteoli  (Pozzuoli), 580,581 

Paul  at  Rome, 581-584 

Paulus,  Heinrich,  E.  G.,  epitome  of, 347 

On  Christ's  resurrection, 281 

Pausanias,  on  the  images  of  Hermes  extending  from  Athens  to 

Perseus,     568 

Persecutions  of  the  primitive  Christians, 345-383 

Oppi'obrius  opinions  entertained  by  Epictetus,  Tacitus,  Pliny, 

Suetonius,  Aurelius,  Galen,  Porphyry,  and  Julian, 349-358 

Occasion  of  this  heathen  prejudice, 353,  354,  361,  372-374 

That  Christians  were  pure  and  blameless  in  character,    .    .    .  354-357 

On  persistent  persecutions  by  the  heathen, 358,  359 

And  malignant  persecutions  by  the  Jews, 359,361 

Cruelty  imposed  by  the  Sanhedrin, 359,  360 

Christians  cursed  in  Jewish  prayers  to  God, 360 

Ostracized  in  service  and  intercourse, 360,  361 

Denounced  in  Talmudic  literature, 360 

Persecuted  by  the  Romans, 361-383 

Occasion  of  Roman  persecutions,      372-374,  379-383 

Literary  persecutions  by  philosophers,  Celsus,  Lucian, 

Porphyry,  and  Hierocles, 361,  373,  374 

Imperial  persecutions  by  Claudius 422,  423,  363,  note  52 

By  Nero, 361-365,  368,  423,  362,  note,  52 

By  Trajan,  (with  Pliny), 365,366,369,371 

By  Hadrian, 366 

By  Diocletian,  and  Maximian, 366  367,  370,  372 

By  Julian, 374,  351 

Gibbon  severely  denounces  the  last  five  Csesars,  •••....         365 


724  Index. 

Page. 
Confirmations  by  Apologists,  Justin  Martyr,  Diognetus,  Ap- 

pollonius,  and  Tertullian, 367,368 

Review  of  the  evidence  adduced, 368-370 

The  four  periods  of  Christian  persecution, 370-373 

Caricature  of  the  crucified  Christ  worshiped, 374,  375 

General  survey  of  the  situation, 379-382 

Inductions  from  foregoing  facts, 383 

Peter's  sermons  reported  as  Mark's  Gospel 52 

Peter,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  testimony  on  the  Lord's-day,    .   .   .         131 

Philo,  and  company  call  Caligula,  "  My  Lord," 452,  570 

On  the  Jews'  praying  place, 563 

Pilate,  made  procurator  of  Judaea, 428,429 

His  character  as  a  Roman  ruler  of  Jews, 432-436 

His  violence  and  vacillation  to  his  subjects, 432 

Why  he  was  at  Jerusalem  on  Jewish  feast-day, 429, 430 

How  Pilate's  wife  was  at  Jerusalem  when  Jesus  was  put  on 

trial, 431,  432 

Her  message  to  Pilate  about  Christ, 431,432 

His  tessellated  pavement  for  purposes  of  judicature 430 

His  enmity  and  amity  over  Christ, 433-436 

Pilate  reports  his  resurrection  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius,    .  230,  *  426 

Pilate  is  arrested  and  sent  to  Rome, 576 

Pingre,  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 75,  76,  88 

Plato,  on  the  just  and  righteous  man, 218 

Pliny,  epitome  of, 117 

His  State  paper  to  Emperor  Trajan, 671,672 

On  the  Lord's  Supper, 128 

Obligations  assumed  by  early  Christians, 356 

Christians'  fidelity  to  Christ,  bi'ought  death, 865, 366 

On  Christians  as  Roman  citizens 576 

Plutarch,  epitome  of, 389 

On  punishments, 397 

Politarchs  in  Asia,  the  title  of  oflBce  explained, 565-567 

A  monument  of,  in  Thessalonica, 566 

Polycarp,  epitome  of, 235, 236 

On  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 270 

On  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven, 304 

Pompey,  his  conquest  of  the  Jews'  Palestine, 391,  462,535 

Pool,  of  British  Museum,  on  magicians  and  miracles, 167 

Porphyry,  epitome  of, 117 

His  question  on  universal  salvation, 126 

He  concedes  miracles  as  facts, 154 

He  affirms  Christ's  ascension, 303 

His  opinion  of  Christians, 351 

On  persecution  of  Christians, 374 

Pritchard,  on  the  Star  of  the  Magi, 75 


Index.  725 

Page 
Proconsuls,  three  instances  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,   .   .  452-458 

Proconsul,  a  term  of  office,  explained, 456 

Exchange  of  territory  between  the  Emperor  and  Roman 

Senate, 453-455 

Paul  and  proconsul  Sergius  of  Cyprus, 453 

Paul  and  proconsul  Gallio  of  Achaia, 454 

A  coin  attests  Luke's  exactness, 454 

Summai'y  and  inductions, 457,458 

Procurator's  office  explained, 426 

(For  list  of  procurators,  see  Exhibit  B), 689,690 

Proseucha,  a  place  of  prayer, 563-565 

Punishment  of  criminals, 396-398 

Roman  orders  to  scourge, 446 

Other  modes  of  inflicting  punishments, 376 

Voice  of  modern  historians  on, 376-378 

A  sui'vey  of  punishment  inflicted  on  Christians, 379 

Antagonism  of  the  natural  man, 380 

Christians  exulted  in  sufferings, 382 

Dryden's  lines  in  conclusion, 382 

Inductions, 383 

Q. 

Quadratus,  a  Christian  Apologist,  epitome  of,     141, 142 

Attests  the  miracles  of  Christ, 159 

Quadratus,  Roman  president  of  Syria,  sent  Samaritans  and  Jews 

to  Csesar, 576 

Sent  Ananus,  the  high  priest  to  Rome  in  chains, 576 

Quirinius,  a  Roman  Legate  of  Syria, 425 

Charged  with  financial  affairs  in  Judsea 473 

Enrolled  the  population  at  the  time  of  the  Nativity,    ....      77,  80 
Registered  the  Jews'  property  about  six  years  afterward,   .  79-89,425 

B. 

Rabbis,  Jewish,  on  Christ's  ascension, 303 

Ramsay,  on  Quirinius's  enrollments, 78,  79 

Rawlinson,  Professor  George,  epitome  of, 589 

On  present  knowledge  of  first  century, 3 

Agreement  of  sacred  and  secular  history, 415 

Credibility  of  contemporary  witnesses, 461 

Roman  citizenship,  how  acquired 445 

On  historical  geography  of  the  New  Testament, 558, 559 

On  the  titles  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 628 

Registration  (see  enrollments), 77-89,400 

Renan,  epitome  of, 184 

On  Christian  miracles, 187,  205-210 

His  eulogy  on  the  crucified  Christ, 124 


726  Index. 

Paoe. 

On  the  ascension  of  Christ, 298 

The  Apostles'  preaching  and  persecutions, 348 

Retrocession  in  the  chronology  of  critics, 592,  593 

Revelation  progressive  in  character, 25,  26 

RIchter,  Jean  Paul,  epitome  of, 164 

On  the  life  of  Christ  and  history, 136 

Roman  rulers  of  the  Jews, 413,  415-458 

Rothe,  R.,  epitome  of, 163, 164 

On  miracles  as  a  mode  of  revelation, 164 

No  stumbling-block  in  conceiving  miracles, 184 

Rousseau,  epitome  of, 142 

On  the  death  of  Socrates  and  Christ, 119 

The  absui'dity  of  questioning  miracles, 144 

The  majesty  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures 589 

Applies  Plato's  Just  Man  to  Jesus  Christ, 218, 219 

S. 

Sabbath,  the  Christian  (see  Lord's-day), 180-134,275-279 

Salmon,  Dr.  George,  Professor,  epitome  of, 652 

On  formation  of  the  New  Testament  Canon, 652,653 

Transfers  of  territory  between  Emperor  and  Senate,    ....         455 

Sanhedrin,  Jewish,  on  how  it  originated, 505,506 

Its  functions  and  place  for  sessions, 506 

Its  persecutions  of  Gentiles  and  Christians, 360,361 

Schaff,  Dr.  Philip,  epitome  of, 143 

On  recent  discoveries  and  investigations, 4,5 

Gospels  unparalleled  by  secular  history, 17 

Witness  of  Persian  Magi,  and  Savior, 71 

On  homage  paid  to  Mary  by  the  Magi, 73t 

Astronomical  argument  on  the  Star  of  the  Nativity,    ....  75 

On  Celsus  as  against  deists,  Strauss  and  Renan, 3,388 

The  Lord's  Supper  as  a  sacrament  and  a  sacrifice,     .       ...         129 

Christ's  contemporaries'  belief  in  his  miracles, 144, 149 

On  the  impossibility  of  miracles, 194, 197 

On  shifting  the  resurrection  from  fact  to  fiction 287 

On  Keim's  confession  of   ignorance,  or  return  to  Apostles' 

faith  in  the  resurrection, 289 

On  James  the  Just,  the  Lord's  brother, 324 

On  the  Diocletian  persecution, 367,  655,  656 

Romans  exacting  worship  of  their  gods, 373 

Toi'tured  Christians,  of  both  sexes,  of  all  ages, 378 

On  Christians'  escape  from  siege  of  Jerusalem 528,  529 

Work  of  Titus,  and  sui-vival  of  Jewish  race 548,  549 

The  awful  destruction  of  Jewish  nationality  and  of  the  the- 
ocracy,           553 


Index.  727 

Page. 
Main  facts  and  doctrines  of  Christianity,  in  the  first  four 

Pauline  Epistles, *592 

Josephus's  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ  in  every  manuscript  and 

version  of  his  Antiquities, 668 

Schenkel,  Daniel,  epitome  of, 143 

More  intelligence  required  to  believe  than  to  reject  miracles,  144 

No  conflict  with  nature  on  the  appearance  of  a  creating  God,         200 

On  a  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 291,292 

Those  disbelieving  in  God,  believe  in  ghosts, 169 

Scholiast,  The,  on  Nero's  persecution, 362,  note 

Scrivener,  on  the  Vulgate  version, 647 

Seneca,  the  philosopher  and  statesman,  epitome  of, 436 

The  teacher  of  Emperor  Nero, 423 

On  Roman  punishments  of  criminals, 376 

An  awful  pestilence  destroys  population, 524 

Sergius  Paulus,  proconsul  of  Cyprus, 453 

His  own  coin  of  oflBce  as  proconsul, 454 

His  successor's  coin  of  office  also, 454 

Conversion  of  Sergius  mentioned  by  Emperor  Julian,  ....         319 

Shakespeare,  William,  on  the  comfort  of  believing  in  God,  .   .   .         557 

Smith,  Dr.  William,  Bible  Dictionary,  on  Aretas  and  Paul,  .    .    .  590,note 

Smith,  Sir  James,  Admiral,  on  the  voyage  and  shipwreck  of  Paul,  573-580 

Fair  Haven,  Clauda,  Lasea,  and  Port  Phenice,  identified,  .   .         575 

All  traditions  disregarded  in  investigation, 575,576 

Identification  of  the  place  of  Paul's  shipwreck,  at  Malta,    .   .  577-579 

Coin  of  Primate  of  the  Maltese, 578 

The  harbor  Puteoli  (or  Dicearchia),  the  modem  Puzzuoli,  at 

Naples, 580 

Spinoza,  Benedict,  on  the  negation  of  miracles 186 

Stanley,  Dean  Arthur  P.,  epitome  of, 588,589 

On  Christianity  founded  on  Fact  and  Truth, 589 

Starkie,  Justice  Thomas,  on  reconciling  conflicting  testimonies,  15 

Story,  Joseph,  on  the  Bible,  the  source  of  religion, 503 

Strauss,  David,  absurdity  of  Christianity  without  Christ,  ....  120 

He  is  the  highest  model  of  religion  conceivable, 123 

Life  requires  a  miracle  for  its  origin 199 

Demands  explanation  of  working  laws  of  miracles, 204 

Denounces  the  Swoon  theory  as  impossible, 282 

Suetonius,  the  historian,  epitome  of, 388 

Christ  the  Leader  of  exiled  Jews  at  Rome, 122 

Held  Christianity  as  a  "  new  and  deceitful  superstition,"  .    .  350 

Nero  burns  Rome,  and  punishes  Christians  for  his  own  crime,        362 

A  criminal  carried  tablet  with  accusation,     .    - 398 

Claudius's  advisers  were  freedmen, 420,  *  437 

Provincials  exiled,  were  barred  from  Rome, 422 


7'2S  Index. 

Page. 

Augustus  deprived  cities  of  freedom, 443 

He  referred  all  appeals  to  his  prjetor, 448 

He  abhorred  the  title,  "Lord,"  as  offensive, 451 

Tiberius  regarded  the  title  an  affi'ont, 451 

Transfer  of  Achaia  and  Macedonia  to  the  Roman  Senate,  454,455,  560 
Populace  assault  Emperor  because  of  famine, 524 

Suidas,  the  geographer,  on  the  designation,  Nazarenes  and  Gali- 
leans,           *349 

Sulpicius  Sever  us,  on  the  guilt  of  Nero  in  burning  Rome 363 

On  Christians  burned  for  Nero's  crim'e, 363, 367 

Sunday  (Sabbath),  see  Lord's-day 130-134,  275-279 

' '  Supernatural  Religion,"  an  anonymous  work  against  Christianity ,        119 

T. 

Table  of  Contemporary  Witnesses, \   .   .         692 

Tacitus,  the  celebrated  Roman  historian,  epitome  of, 115, 116 

On  the  advent  of  the  expected  Messiah, 34 

Christ,  the  founder  of  Christianity,  put  to  death  by  Pontius 

Pilate, 99,123,428 

On  Nero  burning  Rome, 315 

On  Nero's  persecution  of  Christians, 333,  362 

Gibbon's  confirmation  of  Tacitus, 363 

Mentions  Pilate  as  procurator  of  Judaea, 428 

Felix  becomes  procurator, 437  note,  438,  497, 498 

Census  of  Roman  citizens  given, 443 

Augustus  rejects  the  title  "  Lord," 451 

Calamities  of  the  times  described, 526 

Failure  of  crops,  and  famine, 421,524 

Popular  indignation  at  Claudius  therefor, 421 

Nero  sang  "  Destruction  of  Troy,"  over  burning  Rome,    .   .   .         423 

Emperor  and  Senate  exchange  territory 454,  455,  560  . 

One  Simon  seizes  sovereignity  over  Judaea,  on  the  death  of 

Herod  the  Great, 471 

On  the  death  of  Herod  Agrippa  I, *  498 

Irresistible  advance  of  Christianity, 522,523 

On  Titus's  siege  of  Jerusalem, 532 

Soldiers  at  Caesarea  called  Augustani,   ....  573  note,  and  574  note 
Talleyrand,  Cai-dinal,  on  how  to  found  a  religion  successfully,  .   .         290 

Talmud,  Jewish,  epitome  of, 21,22 

On  Messiah's  advent  and  character, 55 

His  coming  to  be  signalized  by  a  Star, 66, 72, 7S 

On  the  birth  of  the  expected  Messiah, 26,  27 

The  incarnation  of  the  Messiah, 27-29 

Time  for  his  birth  long  since  passed, 57,62 

Opprobrious  references  to  Jesus  and  his  mother, 44,  678 


Index.  729 

Page. 

Mentions  Jesus  in  manhood  resident  in  Egypt 44 

Acquired  there  miraculous  powers, 150 

Concedes  Jesus  actually  wrought  miracles 44 

Jesus  mocked  and  condemned  to  die, 220 

Mentionshe  was  crowned  with  thorns, 220 

The  exact  time  of  his  crucifixion, 44, 224 

The  cup  of  wormwood  offered  Jesus, 222 

On  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven, 308 

His  return  encompassed  with  clouds 308 

Disciples  of  Jesus  mentioned  and  named, 44,319 

On  miracles  wrought  by  the  Apostles, 331 

The  destruction  of  the  Jewish  Temple, 44, 539,  540 

Jerusalem  destroyed  and  Zion  plowed, 539,  540 

Sanhedrin  removed  to  Jamnia, 359 

It  exacted  Christian  persecutions, 359-361 

Edict  to  expui'gate  references  to  Jesus  from  the  Talmud,    .  676,  677 
On  the  pre-eminence  of  James,  the  Lord's  brother, 323,324 

Targum  Chaldaic,  epitome  of, 22,23 

Messiah's  advent  signalized  by  a  star,  and  clouds,  .  22,  23,  28,  39,  308 

Teachings  of  the  Apostles  (document  Didach6),  epitome  of, 

119,  674,  675,  (Excursus  D.) 

On  Christian  baptism  of  converts, 127, 128 

The  Lord's-day  as  a  Christian  Sabbath, 133 

On  the  Lord's  Supper  (Eucharist), 128,129 

Ofifenses  forbidden  in  apostolic  teachings, 356, 357 

(Opinions  on  the  Didache  by  Dr.  Salmon,  Dr.  Schafif,  and 
Bishop  Lightfoot), 675 

Temple  of  the  Jews  destroyed  by  Titus, 275,466,535,552 

Tertullian,  Quint.  S.  F.,  juriconsult  in  law  and  Christian  Apolo- 
gist, epitome  of,   47,48 

On  the  Magi  or  the  Wise  Men  of  the  East, 74 

Christ's  ancestral  tribe,  the  tribe  of  Judah, 58 

The  enrollment  at  time  of  Nativity 85 

On  administration  of  Lord's  Supper, 128 

On  the  institution  of  the  Lord's-day, 131 

Jews'  views  of  Christ  and  his  miracles, 158 

The  Jews  extorted  Christ's  crucifixion, 230 

Refers  to  Pilate's  report  of  Christ  to  Tiberius, *426 

For  the  fact,  appeals  to  the  archives  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment then  existing, 230 

Mentions  the  preternatural  darkness, 230 

Christ's  body  watched  by  a  large  military  guard, 270 

Resurrection  of  Jesus  on  the  third  day, 270 

His  ascension  encompassed  by  clouds 305 

He  had  spent  forty  days  with  disciples  in  Galilee, 305 


730  Index. 

Page. 
Emperor  Tiberius  proposed  Jesus  to  the  Senate,  to  be  a  Roman 

God 522 

His  exposure  of  an  image  of  a  Roman  God, 375 

His  defense  of  persecuted  Christians, 368 

Testimony,  criteria  of, 15 

Critics'  comparative  table  of, 690 

Value  of  added  witnesses, 14, 15 

Canon  of  divergent  testimonies, 15 

Historical  testimony,  its  method  and  characteristics,    ....      13,  14 

Thomson,  Sir  William,  on  life  from  life  only, 200 

Time,  notations  of ,  by  Jews  and  Romans, 400,401 

Historical  periods,  by  reigns,  of  rulers, 401 

Time-test  ingrained  in  language, 403-405 

Toledoth  Jeshu,  epitome  of, 44,  45,  678, 679 

On  lineage,  tribe,  and  virgin  mother  of  Jesus, 58,  62,  678, 1 

On  Bethlehem  as  the  place  of  his  birth, 58,  62,  678,  2 

On  Herod  ordering  children  slain, 69,  680,  3 

Jesus,  Creator,  atoned  for  men's  sins, 126,  221 

How  Jesus  wrought  miracles, 150,  680,  4 

That  Jesus  was  crowned  with  thorns, 220 

That  he  was  crucified  and  died  on  the  eve  of  the  Passover, 

224,  685,  8,  685,  7,  and  * 

Mentions  vinegar  given  him  on  the  cross, 222,  686,  9 

And  the  time  Jesus  was  buried, 227,  686,  10 

On  the  disciples  and  his  resurrection, 268,686,11,681,5 

Admits  Jesus  predicted  his  ascension, 303,686,11 

Gives  number  and  vocation  of  disciples, 319,  681,  5 

The  royal  march  to  Jerusalem, 684,7 

The  Jews'  conspiracy  with  Judas, 684,  6,  225 

The  arrest  of  Jesus, 685,  8 

His  death  sentence  given, 685,  9 

The  crucifixion  of  Jesus, 685, 10 

Incidents  of  the  crucifixion, 686, 11 

Burial  of  Christ's  body, 686, 12 

His  resurrection  and  ascension, 686, 13 

Institution  of  the  Sabbath, 687, 14 

Trajan,  Emperor,  his  Rescript  to  Pliny  on  persecution, 366 

Transfer  of  territory  in  government, 454,  455,  560,  361 

Tregelles,  S.  P.,  epitome  of, 588 

On  the  Scripture  as  the  Word  of  God, 590 

Trench,  on  Words,  as  fossil  history, 403 

Triumphal  arch  of  Vespasian  and  Titus, 546-548 

Tyndall,  on  life  coming  out  of  life, 200 

On  spontaneous  generation, 199 


Index,  731 

U. 

Paub. 

Ulpian,  on  treatment  of  priaoners  at  Rome 581,582 

Ulpianus,  bodies  of  executed  given  to  friends, •399 

Unique  condition  of  Palestine  for  fifty  years, 385,  387-411 

Unknown  God,  the, 567-573 

V. 

Value  of  added  witnesses 14  15 

Vergil,  epitome  of, 21 

On  the  Golden  Age, 34 

On  Messianic  anticipation 24,  25 

Versions  of  the  New  Testament, 647-649 

The  Old  Latin  Version 647 

The  Syi'iac  Version, 647 

The  Peshito  Version, 747 

The  Cureton  Version, 648 

The  Harklean  Version, 648 

A  Syrian  Gospel, 648 

The  Egyptian  Versions, 649 

The  Memphitic  Version, 649 

The  Thebaic  Version, 649 

The  Bashmuric  Version, 649 

Virgin  Mary, 26 

On  her  supposed  worship, +73 

Volney,  his  exclamation  on  the  ruins  of  Judaea, 540 

Verification  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament, 587-632 

Watson,  Dr.  H.  C.  M.,  on  denial  of  the  possibility  of  miracles,  .  184 

That  nature's  operations  are  never  varied  not  verifiable,    .    .  191 

Washington,  George,  impossible  to  govern  well  without  God  and 

the  Bible, 503 

Webster,  Daniel,  on  our  country  and  the  Bible, 503 

Gospel  of  Christ  a  divine  reality, 503 

Westcott,  Bishop,  B.  F.,  epitome  of, 48 

On  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ, 49 

Christianity  involves  but  creates  no  difficulties, 144 

On  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 289 

On  the  kingship  of  the  tetrarch  Antipas *479 

On  Celsus  quoting  the  Gospels  as  unquestionable  authority,  607 

On  the  Muratorian  Canon, 616 

How  Sacred  Books  became  canonical, 653,  656 

Whately,  Richard,  epitome  of, 237 

On  how  to  distinguish  between  truth  and  fabrication,  ....  415 

Whedon,  Dr.  D.  D.,  on  the  kingship  of  Antipas,  tetrarch *  479 


732  Index. 

Pagk. 
Whiston,  on  Daniel's  prediction  fulfilled  in  the  Roman-Jewish 

war, 534 

Wieseler,  on  the  astronomy  of  the  Star  of  the  Nativity, 75 

Woolsey,  T.  J.,  on  Roman  citizenship, 445 

Worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 73+ 

Z. 

Zoroaster,  and  the  Nestorians,  on  the  Star  and  the  Magi,  ....  72 

Zumpt,  Augustus  W.,  researches  on  Quirinius's  enrollments,  .   .  79,  80 


Date  Due 

M/iyi*w^ 

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